There are very few good reasons for breaking the speed limit, but getting a mother-in-labour to hospital might be one of them.

That was the situation facing one family in Portsmouth who were rushing to the Queen Alexandra Hospital in Cosham a few days ago.

But their progress was impeded by the appearance of four unmarked police cars which gave chase to the family's speeding vehicle on the M275.

When the police finally got the car to stop and approached the family, they found a mother who had just given birth by the side of the road.

The mother, Tiffany, 26, had her fourth child delivered by her father. She said she was "very proud" but that the experience was "quite scary", according to The Guardian.

Tiffany complained of "niggling pains" during the day and by 10pm she realised she was in labour and needed to get to hospital.

"As the car was moving my waters went," explained Tiffany, "then the police pulled us over and my dad came round and opened the door. I knew she [Lola] wasn't going to wait and then suddenly her head started to appear.”

The police squad thought the speeding car had been stolen, and when they finally boxed the car in, they believed the driver was about to run off.

"But he ran around the car to the passenger side and shouted something about a baby," said Sergeant Simon Goss, "When we got to the car we saw the baby in the man's hands. I have never experienced anything like that before."

The police do not intend to take any action over the incident.

As a leading UK and European breakdown cover provider, here at startrescue.co.uk we have seen our fair share of memorable motoring incidents, but this is certainly a rarity among our experienced team members!