His parents Denise and Philip from Helen's Bay had been hoping to make it to Belfast's Royal Victoria Hospital but were forced to stop just a few miles short when Conor suddenly arrived.

Assisted by her husband Philip and policewoman Sergeant Karen Milliken, Denise gave birth to Conor, who weighed 8lbs 1oz.

Said Denise: "When I was getting into the car I thought 'this baby is really on its way'. As we hit Holywood, my waters broke.

"I wanted a natural birth, but this was taking it one step too far!

"We wrapped him in towels I had in my bag for the hospital. The cold was my biggest fear, but thankfully everything was fine."

Baby Conor was five days overdue and Denise had been scheduled to be induced today.

Speaking from her home just hours after the amazing birth Denise (32), a director with the Autism Initiative at Knockbracken Health Care Centre, recalled the drama.

"My contractions started at about 7.30pm and it was all grand. Everything was normal, it was all going along swimmingly," she said.

"At about 1am I woke Philip and told him I thought we needed to head to the hospital, that the contractions were getting worse."

The couple quickly gathered their belongings and headed for the hospital in Belfast. But they had only made it a few miles from home when Denise knew it was time to deliver.

She said: "I thought things were going really quickly. When I was getting into the car I thought this baby is really on its way. As we hit Holywood my waters broke. I think Philip thought we might be able to make it to the hospital but by that stage it was very painfully obvious that we couldn't go any further.

"I was grabbing on to one of his arms on the steering wheel saying 'we have to stop, we have to stop'.

"It was really quick thinking on Philip's part to drive to the police station to get some medical help.

"By the time we got there I could feel the head crowning and was saying to Philip 'I really needed to lie down'."

Fortunately a police car was pulling into the part-time station at the time they arrived.

And assisted by Sergeant Karen Milliken and her husband, Denise delivered her new son.

"It was sort of half in the car, half out. Philip had one leg and Karen had the other and they caught the head and then the baby."

Denise had wanted to put a blanket on the pavement so she could lie down but the baby was born too quickly.

She said: "My main concern was that the cord wasn't wrapped around the baby's neck, and it wasn't.

"At that point I was calm because I knew I could lie down and that everything was OK.

"We gave him a rub to get him to cry a bit, which he did.

"We wrapped him in towels I had in my bag for the hospital. The cold was a big fear but thankfully everything was fine.

"The pain was pretty bad. I wanted a natural birth - this was taking it one step too far!

"It was a dramatic situation but I think we handled it fairly well. I wouldn't say we were completely calm but we were all right."

The ambulance arrived about five minutes after the birth.

Conor, who weighed in at 8lb 1oz, is a younger brother for the couple's other son, 19-month-old Frazer. Denise and Philip have expressed a special thanks to PSNI Sgt Milliken for her role in Conor's delivery.