Officer who delivered baby escorts her to prom

A police officer who stepped in to deliver a baby was able to deliver her to her school prom 17 years later.

PC Jonathan Burke was working as a Suffolk Police community support officer when he was suddenly approached in Ixworth High Street, in Bury St Edmunds, by a man asking for help.

He came to learn the man's wife was in labour and he successfully helped deliver their baby girl called Evie.

The family and officer stayed in touch, with PC Burke recently escorting Evie to her King Edward IV Upper prom, which she said was "quite an entrance".

"I was thinking this must be a wind up and I thought he wasn't looking at me, but he was," PC Burke said of the moment Evie's father, David Fitt, came rushing over asking for help.

"I went into survival mode. I was only 21 at the time.

"It was too late to get to hospital and it all happened in the back of Sarah and David's car in the middle of Ixworth High Street."

Last year, he was approached by Mr Fitt to see if he would escort Evie to her prom being held at Blackthorpe Barn on the Rougham Estate.

The PC thought it was a "a lovely and special idea" and it was later approved by his managers in the force.

"It was a bit nerve-wracking to say the least," Evie said.

"I think it's quite an entrance, so it was fun and a lot of my friends were very surprised because I'm not usually a loud or outgoing person, so it was very strange to see me roll up in a police car with all the sirens going off."

The teenager is now considering a career in the police and will study criminology, psychology and biology at college.

Follow Suffolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.