By . Suzannah Hills . PUBLISHED: . 11:50 EST, 17 March 2014 . | . UPDATED: . 12:02 EST, 17 March 2014 . A Chinese project allowing people to abandon unwanted babies with no questions asked has been forced to close after it received more than 250 children in the first three months. The idea of the baby flap or postbox, a place of . safety as an alternative to babies being abandoned on the street, was . reintroduced in Europe in Germany over a decade ago. It was based on the medieval concept of . foundling wheels, where babies could be left at a convent or monastery . to be cared for if the parents were unable to do so. But while European baby postboxes . attract only a few cases a year across the entire continent, in China, . where it is illegal to abandon children, they have been inundated with unwanted . children. The baby 'postbox': A scheme in Guangzhou City in Guangdong Province allows parents to leave their unwanted children at a designated place with no questions asked . Shut down: But the baby postbox has been temporarily closed after being undated with three children a day - more than 250 children in just three months . The latest project in Guangzhou City in Guangdong Province in southern China follows on from 25 similar projects that have opened up in 10 other Chinese provinces including Tianjing, Jiangsu, Shaanxi, Guizhou, Fujian, Inner Mongolia, and Heilongjiang. But the Guangdong 'baby flap' project has now been . forced to temporarily close after 262 mostly disabled babies were handed in within . the first three months of the scheme operating. Xu Jiu, 47, director of the Guangzhou Welfare Center, said their baby flap project was massively oversubscribed in comparison to other regions. Pattern: Many of the children left in the postbox were ill or had some form of disability (stock image) He said: 'The project in Inner Mongolia only received four abandoned babies 10 months after its establishment and Shijiazhuang received 180 babies in two and a half years after its establishment. 'Yet here in Guangzhou we received 262 babies in 90 days.' One feature almost all of the abandoned babies have in common is that they are in some way either ill or disabled. It includes children with cerebral palsy, Down's syndrome and congenital heart disease. Xu Jiu added: 'We have learned a lot from this even if we stop it now, it shows us that we need to offer better child welfare systems and in particular the assistance and support for families with severely disabled children. 'It's also important to encourage information about the options available including options before birth if problems are identified. 'There also need to be improvements to the relevant rules and promotion of the way that we protect children.' The centre will continue to care for the babies that have already been left but have asked that parents do not leave any children in the baby flap after it closes. Xu Jiu, director of the Guangzhou Welfare Center, said the city received far more children than other schemes in different parts of the country .
The scheme in Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province, is one of 25 in China .
It allows parents to leave unwanted babies at a designated 'baby postbox'
But the Guangzhou project was inundated with three babies a day .
Most of the children were ill or suffering from some form of disability .
The project has been forced to close after receiving 262 babies in 90 days .
By . Suzannah Hills . PUBLISHED: . 11:50 EST, 17 March 2014 . | . UPDATED: . 12:02 EST, 17 March 2014 . A Chinese project allowing people to abandon unwanted babies with no questions asked has been forced to close after it received more than 250 children in the first three months. The idea of the baby flap or postbox, a place of . safety as an alternative to babies being abandoned on the street, was . reintroduced in Europe in Germany over a decade ago. It was based on the medieval concept of . foundling wheels, where babies could be left at a convent or monastery . to be cared for if the parents were unable to do so. But while European baby postboxes . attract only a few cases a year across the entire continent, in China, . where it is illegal to abandon children, they have been inundated with unwanted . children. The baby 'postbox': A scheme in Guangzhou City in Guangdong Province allows parents to leave their unwanted children at a designated place with no questions asked . Shut down: But the baby postbox has been temporarily closed after being undated with three children a day - more than 250 children in just three months . The latest project in Guangzhou City in Guangdong Province in southern China follows on from 25 similar projects that have opened up in 10 other Chinese provinces including Tianjing, Jiangsu, Shaanxi, Guizhou, Fujian, Inner Mongolia, and Heilongjiang. But the Guangdong 'baby flap' project has now been . forced to temporarily close after 262 mostly disabled babies were handed in within . the first three months of the scheme operating. Xu Jiu, 47, director of the Guangzhou Welfare Center, said their baby flap project was massively oversubscribed in comparison to other regions. Pattern: Many of the children left in the postbox were ill or had some form of disability (stock image) He said: 'The project in Inner Mongolia only received four abandoned babies 10 months after its establishment and Shijiazhuang received 180 babies in two and a half years after its establishment. 'Yet here in Guangzhou we received 262 babies in 90 days.' One feature almost all of the abandoned babies have in common is that they are in some way either ill or disabled. It includes children with cerebral palsy, Down's syndrome and congenital heart disease. Xu Jiu added: 'We have learned a lot from this even if we stop it now, it shows us that we need to offer better child welfare systems and in particular the assistance and support for families with severely disabled children. 'It's also important to encourage information about the options available including options before birth if problems are identified. 'There also need to be improvements to the relevant rules and promotion of the way that we protect children.' The centre will continue to care for the babies that have already been left but have asked that parents do not leave any children in the baby flap after it closes. Xu Jiu, director of the Guangzhou Welfare Center, said the city received far more children than other schemes in different parts of the country .
has been forced to close after it received more inundated with unwanted . children. The baby 'postbox': A scheme in Guangzhou City in Guangdong Province allows parents to leave their unwanted children at a designated place with no with three children a day - more than 250 project was massively oversubscribed in children left in the postbox were ill or had some form of disability (stock image) He said: 'The 262 babies in 90 days.' One feature almost all of