TRAFFIC was brought to a standstill as a mother Tammy Turner gave birth in an ambulance en route to hospital.

Miss Turner went into labour shortly before 5.30am on Sunday at her home in Unity Street at Sheerness.

Her partner, Mark Cocks, called an ambulance and they waited for the midwife to arrive before setting off for Gillingham's Medway Maritime Hospital.

But the ambulance was forced to pull over on the A249 just beyond the Kingsferry Bridge when Miss Turner's waters broke. Her contractions came increasingly frequently as the ambulance sped to the hospital, sirens blaring.

But nature took over just minutes away from the maternity ward and the ambulance was forced to stop in the middle of Rock Road outside the hospital in Gillingham while Miss Turner gave birth.

Traffic was brought to a halt for 10 minutes during the delivery. The ambulance driver explained to waiting drivers what was happening, and they greeted the birth with a cheer.

Miss Turner, 25, gave birth to a healthy boy, Alfie, just an hour and 39 minutes after going into labour. He weighed 7lb12 and was four days premature.

Mr Cocks, 25, said: "She was just so shocked by the speed it all happened, but everything was fine.

"He is a spitting double of me. It is the best feeling ever, but we never want it to happen that way again."

Alfie is Miss Turner's third child, but Mr Cocks has become a father for the first time.