NURSING staff at Tavistock Hospital celebrated the arrival of the first baby to be born there for many years following a couple's emergency dash to Plymouth's maternity unit which ended abruptly on their doorstep.

Mandy Jeffery, 37, originally from Albaston and who now lives at Hendra Vale in Launceston, went into labour last Tuesday night. She was being driven by her husband Paul to Derriford Hospital when they realised they were not going to make it in time.

'I suggested to Mandy we went via Tavistock just in case the Tamar Bridge was busy,' said Paul who works for McVities in Okehampton.

'We were getting close to the town when Mandy said she thought I had better pull in. At first I thought I might have to pull into a lay-by and deliver the baby myself — we had left it a bit late.

'I hammered on the hospital door and said, "Can you help me out my wife's having a baby?". Although there was an ambulance standing by, Mandy was too far gone.'

Within minutes two midwives, Denise Bedford and Julie Harmsworth arrived to lend an experienced hand.

'The staff were brilliant,' said Paul. 'Everything went so smoothly and calmly. I saw the whole thing, it was wonderful.'

The couple are now the proud parents of a 8lbs 4oz baby girl whom they have called Sophia Elizabeth Jean. She is the Jefferys' second child — they already have a six-year-old son, Liam.

'The midwives tidied things up and we were home by 2am,' said Paul. 'It was just like going shopping.'

Hospital manager Philippa Bridle said 'everything went like clockwork'.

'Staff can't remember when a baby was last born here,' she said. 'Most were born in Tavistock Maternity Home before it closed or at Derriford Hospital.

'It was terribly exciting and we were thrilled — they were such a lovely couple.

'Fortunately, the midwives were all at base — had the emergency been during the morning, they would have been visiting people. We are not geared for emergency deliveries, but this time everything went so smoothly.'