A SINGLE fare quickly turned into a double for taxi driver Paul Prentice when his passenger gave birth in the front seat of his cab.

And 27-year-old Paul had no choice but to become emergency midwife as the distressed mother-to-be was his wife!

Paul, a driver for Prestwich-based taxi firm Magnum, jumped into action when Kay (28), who was four days overdue, decided it was time to go to the hospital last Thursday morning (May 31).

But shortly after leaving their home in Merton Road, Prestwich, at around 9.10am Kay, who has two other sons aged eight and three, shouted that the baby was on its way.

A shocked Paul said: "Kay had been up most of the night with labour pains but said she wasn't ready. Then all of a sudden she decided she wanted to go. So we got in the car and set off for Fairfield. "We had just reached the roundabout at the bottom of Rochdale Old Road when she shouted that the baby's head was showing.

"I said that it couldn't be but I put my foot down anyway," added Paul. "By the time we stopped outside the hospital at around 9.20am she had given birth!" The father-of-three ran into the foyer and alerted staff but said they seemed a bit bemused.

He said: "I don't think they believed me when I said Kay had actually given birth in the car. It was a shocking experience, I can tell you. We were actually due at the ante-natal clinic that day at 10am but we arrived half an hour sooner with a baby in our arms!"

Apart from being a little cold due to his unusual birthplace, 6lbs 11oz Dion was born perfectly healthy, and both mother and baby are doing fine.

"Kay coped really well with the whole thing," Paul went on. "She isn't normally good with pain but managed to cope without any help."

Paul spent most of the day cleaning out the front seat of his cab ready to get back to work.

Recovering at home after her ordeal, Kay said: "To be honest it is all very much a blur because it was such a shock. I never expected to give birth in the car but I was only frightened afterwards when I realised what had happened. Dion didn't cry but he murmured so we knew he was okay."

She added: "Paul has been telling everyone what happened but they think he is joking. He was brilliant. He was very level-headed and kept me calm."