DELIVERY driver dad Simon Skerten got more than he bargained for when he was called on to make an extra special delivery in his own home.

When his partner Shelly Mitchell suddenly went into labour, he had to deliver his own baby son, Freddie, on the bathroom floor.

The couple, of Uplands, Stroud, visited Stroud Maternity Hospital on October 8 for a check-up.

The expected date of the baby's birth was already a few days late so Simon, 34, and Shelly, 28, went home and went to bed as normal that night.

"But then at about 3am, Shelly woke up and said she was going down stairs," said Simon, a delivery driver for Quedgeley-based James Young Transport.

"At about 4.30am I heard this thud and got up to see what it was.

"Shelly was in the bathroom and thought she was in labour.

"I rang the midwife but she told me Shelly wasn't in labour yet and it would be hours before the baby would arrive."

But Shelly was convinced the baby was on its way so Simon called for an ambulance.

However, before it arrived, she had already given birth to baby Freddie with Simon's help.

Simon knew what to do because he was present at the birth of his eldest son, Ashley, but said: "It was more luck than judgement."

The proud father said he was thrilled to be involved in the birth.

"It was much closer to home actually delivering the baby myself and having to do what the midwife does," he said.

"Anything could have happened but luckily it didn't and it was a quick labour," he said.

The couple already have three children between them from previous relationships, but Freddie, who weighed 8lbs 6oz, is their first together.

Shelly, who used to work as a hairdresser but is now a full-time mum, said: "I had joked with my friends I would have the baby quickly at home, but I never thought it would actually happen.

"I'm really proud of Simon and glad he woke up." Simon said his son Ashley, 13 and Shelly's children Kaleb, eight and Shania, seven, adore their new baby brother.