Ben Earle of The Shires to perform at Glastonbury hours after becoming a father

A country duo's headline set at Glastonbury Festival was thrown into doubt after one of its members became a father.

The Shires were due to perform on the Acoustic Stage on Saturday evening, when band member Ben Earle's fiancee gave birth.

Chloe Rhodes, the other half of the duo, arrived alone at the venue, with her fingers crossed Earle would make it on time.

She said: "His fiancee gave birth this morning, of all mornings! We were scared because we've got Glastonbury tonight and we were hoping the baby would come before or at least after and just not on Glastonbury. But this morning, baby River, a little boy, was born."

Earle - who said he has been up for 48 hours - took to Instagram to say it broke his heart to leave his fiancee on Saturday afternoon, but added he was "very excited to play Glastonbury", and that it was "going to be an emotional one."

The pair, who became the first UK country act to make it into the Top 10 album charts, performed at Glastonbury last year but return for a headline slot.

Rhodes - who crashed out of the X Factor in the boot camp stage in 2013 when Nicole Scherzinger chose not to keep her - said: "They let me go at the right time because that's when I met Ben.

"It felt like fate that everything fell into place at the same time, because then potentially I wouldn't be here headlining the Acoustic Stage at Glastonbury with Ben. It's all for the best," she added.