Mother Gives Birth On Hard Shoulder Of M42

Traffic on a busy motorway can be frustrating at the best of times - but it proved particularly stressful for one mother who went into labour.

Baby Tommy was born on the hard shoulder of the M42 after a collision and a fuel spillage caused massive delays between Junction 7A and 7 on Saturday afternoon.

The Central Motorway Police Group was called to help with the special delivery.

Tommy's grandfather, Terry Kemp, has thanked officers who "came to the rescue" - and released a photo of his grandson sleeping soundly in hospital.

"Mom and baby are doing well," he said. "Once again, big thank you to the police.

"Got my old ticker going again, but mom and baby are doing well."

PC James Barry arrived at the scene to find Tommy being cradled by his mum in the back of her Vauxhall Zafira.

"By the time we arrived mum had done all the hard work and we there to make sure everyone was OK," he said.

"The husband did the right thing and pulled over onto the hard shoulder and called us for help.

"He told us that it had all happened so fast that within 20 minutes of his wife going into labour she had given birth.

"The ambulance crew were struggling to get to us as the motorway was blocked, so we blue-lighted the family to the motorcycle museum where the crew were able to meet us and take over," he said.

Hundreds of people have congratulated the police for their speedy response on Facebook.