A tanker driver helped deliver more than fuel on a petrol station forecourt after an expecting couple got stuck in traffic on the way to the hospital.

Ed Donohue, from Maidstone, was unloading fuel near the Kent-Sussex border last week when pregnant mother Amy Holmes and her partner Adam Davies pulled in and called for help.

The 50-year-old driver was midway through his job at the time of the couple’s arrival at the Gulf service station in Haywards Heath on Thursday morning (April 3).

The couple had been on their way to the Princess Royal Hospital, in West Sussex, from their home in Brighton but became stuck in traffic and realised the baby wouldn’t wait.

Drawing on his army training, Ed took control of the situation and helped bring the newborn safely into the world.

“I saw a car coming right towards me and heard the couple inside shouting,” he said.

“At first I thought they were having a domestic, but quickly realised they needed help.

“The driver flung open the passenger door and I could see the birth was imminent!”

Ed, who works for fuel supplier Certas Energy, said paramedics were called but there was “lots of confusion” about getting to them and so he “just had to crack on with it”.

Fortunately for the couple Ed, who served in the 1st battalion of the King’s regiment for five years and previously worked as a driver for the Ministry of Defence, had kept up to date with first aid training.

Baby Solomon was born safely in the front seat of the couple’s Citroen Cactus at 8.46am, weighing 7lbs 14oz.

“It was definitely the craziest thing I’ve seen on shift – and possibly that I’ve seen in my 50 years!” Ed, of Rosalind Drive, Maidstone added.

“I don’t feel I did anything special – I’m just happy to have helped.”

Adam said: “It was a total whirlwind - the most chaotic morning we’ve ever had.

“We were stuck in awful traffic, and we could already feel the baby’s head, so I knew I had to get us somewhere safe. I was beeping like mad to get us onto the forecourt in time.”

He described Ed, who was by the couple’s side throughout, as “brilliant”.

The 34-year-old accountant added: “Ed was a ‘beacon of calm’. At one point the umbilical cord was caught on the baby’s shoulder and he told me to pull it over the baby’s head and that’s when Solomon came out.”

Staff at the service station also stepped in to support the couple.

Store manager Andre Salvidge, from Tap Retail Group, said: “Nothing like this has ever happened before.

“It was heart-warming to see everyone come together.”

Mum Amy, 36, a speech and language therapist, and baby Solomon were taken to hospital and are now back home, recovering with their eldest son Marlow, two.