WHEN the Sweeney family headed off to Kent for a pre-Christmas visit to relations from their Ipswich home, they had no idea that there would need to be room at the Inn for one extra!

Erin arrived in the world early, while the family was staying at the Premier Inn at Margate.

Jane and Colin Sweeney, from Sandpiper Road, were staying at the hotel with their son Louis while visiting Mrs Sweeney’s parents.

Erin was not due until December 20 but popped into the world at 8.07am on December 11 in their bedroom at the Premier Inn.

Mr Sweeney said: “Jane woke around 6.30am feeling unwell and her contractions had started. I contacted the hospital and they told me to wait a while and see if the contractions increased.

“They soon did increase and so I got back on the phone and they said they would send a crew out to us. I was beginning to get extremely concerned as things were moving very fast.

“They were brilliant and talked me through what preparations I had to make in case I had to deliver the baby myself.

“I put Match of the Day on to keep Louis occupied while I looked after Jane who was in a lot of pain.

“Just as Erin was about to arrive the paramedics came in and took over – it was a huge relief.

“It had literally been 1� hours between Jane waking up and little Erin being delivered. The five minutes waiting for the paramedics was the longest five minutes of my life.”

The family had nothing but praise for the Premier Inn staff. “They were very good and couldn’t do enough for us,” said Mr Sweeney.

Both mother and baby, who weighed in at 7lb 6ozs, are doing fine and the family is back home in Ipswich.

Mr Sweeney is a former committee manager at Suffolk County Council and now does a similar job for Clacton-based Tendring council.

Erin is the first baby to be born at the Margate hotel.

A spokeswoman for Premier Inn said: “We’re always happy to go above and beyond to help our guests, but must admit it was quite a surprise when we found out Mrs Sweeney had gone into labour in one of our rooms.

“Erin is the very first baby to be born at the Premier Inn hotel here in Margate, and we’re very proud of our staff who did a fantastic job of reassuring her parents when she popped into the world a little sooner than expected.

“We’d like to congratulate Mr and Mrs Sweeney on their arrival once again, and needless to say, we did not charge them for the extra guest!”