A POLICEMAN came to the rescue when a woman, who had gone into labour, got stuck in the snow driving to hospital.

Amanda Sanders and her husband Andrew abandoned their car in the Arctic conditions but PC David Fisher came to their aid driving them 10 miles to the hospital despite treacherous conditions.

And the next day Amanda gave birth to a beautiful baby girl.

Amanda, 26, said: "I want to thank him for saving the day. He was great and I don't know what we would have done without him."

Their ordeal began when Amanda’s waters broke last Tuesday morning, three days after her due date.

She said: "I started to panic as it was my first child. I didn't know what to expect."

Andrew, 29, a nurse in Salford, added: “It was quite frightening.

"Amanda didn’t want to give birth in the back of car and we had no idea how soon the baby would arrive.”

They set off from their home in Sheridan Road, Laneshawbridge, on their way to Airedale Hospital near Skipton.

But the pair only made it onto Keighley Road, heading towards the Yorkshire border, when their car became stuck in the snow as they attempted to pass two stranded lorries.

After a few failed attempts to dig their car out they pair decided to give up and abandon the car.

A local farmer saw the stranded couple and offered to help push their car onto his land at to the side of the road so it was safe.

Andrew added: “About a quarter of a mile up the hill two lorries had become stuck, we tried to pass them but became stuck ourselves.

"I tried to dig the car out but decided that it was going to be impossible to pass.

"Luckily a police officer came to attend to the lorries and asked him if he could drive us to the hospital.

“He radioed through to ask permission to take us and he was advised to turn back and to have the baby at Colne health centre because the road conditions were too bad.

“But the officer said he thought he could make it over to Steeton, it was lucky that we did because the baby was in a posteria position, back-to-back, which meant that it is difficult to give birth naturally and resulted in her having an emergency ceaserian section.

“The roads were treacherous, we would not have managed to get to the hospital in our car and I doubt that an ambulance would have made it through.

“It could have been dangerous for both Amanda and Jessica if we didn't get to the hospital to have the ceaserian section.”

The trio arrived at hospital two hours later and baby Jessica Elizabeth Sanders was born by emergency ceaserian section weighing 9lb 10oz.

PC Fisher, from Burnley, was reunited with the happy family yesterday.

He said: “I have never had to do anything like that before, I thought I was just going to two stranded lorries but ended rescuing a woman in labour.

“It had been total chaos on the roads that day, It had taken me an hour just to drive from Colne to Barnoldswick on another job, and my car was one of the only ones that made it through.

“It was very lucky that I had the 4x4 as it is the only one we have for normal patrols, I very much doubt that an ambulance would have made it to the hospital.

“I’m so glad that both the mother and the baby are doing well and that I could be of some help.”