LIBERAL Democrat Mozaquir Ali had to miss Burnley Council's development control committee to take care of a little development of his own - his wife was having a baby.

The Daneshouse ward member was called to Burnley General's maternity unit where wife Anwara presented him with a baby daughter, Tahmeema Begum, who weighed in at 8lb 13ozs.

It was, said Mozaquir, a far more productive and rewarding experience than anything he would have encountered at the town hall.

"Everything went well and I am delighted," he said.

Mozaquir became the first sitting Burnley councillor to become a parent since Conservative Janet Pickup gave birth to a son in November 1992.

Racial equality officer Coun Ali now has six children -"It's our last," he said.

But Burnley Council's "daddy of them all" title goes to Labour housing chairman Rafique Malik, who has seven children.

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