Woman shocks officers after giving birth to baby boy at side of motorway

A baby was born on the hard shoulder of the M60 motorway near Manchester Credit: Dave Thompson/PA

A new mother gave birth to her baby son at the side of a motorway – much to the surprise of passing police officers.

The unnamed woman was discovered by a Greater Manchester Police patrol just moments after little Luke was born at the side of the M60 in the early hours of Monday morning.

North West Motorway Police tweeted at about 2.30am that the officers had spotted a vehicle on the hard shoulder and had gone to take a closer look.

They tweeted: “Upon closer inspection was greeted with a female just given birth, Ambulance now on scene, first reports are Mum and baby doing fine, #newbabyjoy”.

The account later revealed that the baby had been named Luke, adding: “May the force be with them”.