It was a double delight for an ambulance service call handler after she helped deliver two babies in just one night shift.

Lisa McGee, who lives in Witham, helped bring two new baby boys to the world in 24 hours after their mums suddenly realised they were in the late stages of labour and didn’t have time to get to hospital.

A couple of hours into the shift, the mum-of-two was talking to panicky Frank Holbrook, whose fiancée Jayne Wright was at home in Heybridge, getting ready to push.

She had been to St Peter’s Hospital, in Maldon, during the day but wasn't in labour then.

Full-time carer Ms Wright, 41, said: “I got a couple of hours sleep at home, then I got up and said we have to go back to the hospital.

“I walked upstairs and when I got to the top of the stairs, I felt the baby coming right there and then.

“Frank called 999 and I went to the bathroom and sat on the toilet but the call handler told Frank to get me off the toilet."

See this week's Braintree and Witham Times for the full story.