A MOTHER who gave birth on the front seat of a taxi has been landed with a £40 cleaning bill.

Jenny Larkin from Redcar delivered baby Finley in a hospital car park less than two hours after going into labour.

She was shocked to receive a valeting bill two days later from the unrepentant cab driver, who said he had lost two days pay as the interior had been so wet.

When contractions started at 2.30am last Friday, her partner, Tim Galloway, called JP taxis just after 4am to take them to James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough.

“Tim told them it was for maternity and when he came he had some plastic sheeting on the front seat and said it was fine for me to sit there,” she said.

“We got on the A174 and I said the baby was coming. By the time we were pulling up at the hospital, the baby was already coming out.

“Five midwives rushed out to see what the situation was and there my baby boy was, hanging down and in a bit of shock. I had to deliver him there. That’s when he said to my partner 'I want the cleaning bill'."

Finley was born weighing a healthy 7lb 15oz and taken into the hospital, where medics kept an eye on his temperature after he was born outside in the cold.

Jenny, who also has two girls Elise, five and Ruby, two, said: “I was absolutely mortified. He knew he was going to maternity before he even set off and had put plastic sheets on the front seat.

Taxi driver, Steven Morrell, who is responsible for the cleaning and maintenance of his own cab as part of his self-employed contract with JP Taxis, said: “Unfortunately someone’s got to pay for it. I don’t think I’m being nasty asking for the valeting cost back.

“I couldn’t work on Friday or Saturday because the interior was still wet so I lost two days’ takings.”

Craig Walker, who owns JP Taxi, said the driver had the right to pass on his bill to the family in accordance with a council bylaw.