I am overjoyed, I got the best Christmas present anyone could wish for in the form of a baby girl

Gary Pennington, 35, and his partner Ashleigh Buck, 23, were expecting their second child on Boxing Day but they received an erly Christmas surprise when their baby was born early.

Mr Pennington, a fabricator at Superlight, said: “We found out in March, just before Easter that we were expecting. It was great, it was really exciting.

“The due date was Boxing Day, we were hoping she would come on Boxing day, but we were happy for a Christmas baby.

“It is the best present you can get isn’t it?”

“We were over the moon”.

Their two-year-old daughter Harper was thrilled to become a big sister especially as she she had just enough time to open her present s but her parents had to dash to the hospital.

Mr Pennington, who is from Preston, said: “We were both overjoyed.”

He said that friends and family were shocked when they found out that the baby could be born on Christmas Day.

The decided to call their new bundle of festive joy Scarlett Jane Pennington.