A COUPLE had a lovely late Christmas present when their second child was born ... on the passenger seat of their car.

Louise Reeves, 21, of Somerset Grove, Church, realised the baby was on its way when she started having contractions five minutes apart.

Her partner, Andrew Ormerod, 28, drove her to the car park at Queen's Park Hospital, Blackburn, and by then it was too late to get her inside.

Little Dylan James Ormerod, weighing 7lb 13ozs, was delivered in the car by a midwife.

Louise said: "I knew it was time for the baby to come and I was very worried. It was really cold inside the car and Andrew had to defrost it first.

"He kept telling me to keep my legs crossed and I just managed to do so until the midwife came; Andrew then got in the back and held my hands. The birth took about an hour-and-a-half."

Louise has another son from a previous relationship, three-year-old Josh; she and Andrew are engaged to be married, although a date has not yet been set.

She added: "It was very different from my first child, because with Josh I never had any contractions.

"It was a pretty frightening experience but we were both fine afterwards."

After the birth, both mother and son were taken into the hospital for a few hours before being sent home.