THIS week 15 years ago, THE phrase doorstep delivery took on a new meaning for expectant mother Claire Timmens.

Her baby was in such a hurry to be born that he did not wait for her to make it out of her front door.

Paramedics Steven Verity and Alan McQuaker ended up delivering the healthy baby on the doorstep after Mrs Timmens unexpectedly went into labour.

Yesterday, Mrs Timmens, 37, and her husband, Rob, 39, went home from hospital with their new son, and thanked the paramedics for their double-quick help.

Mr Timmens called an ambulance, which arrived within minutes at their home in Neville Road, Darlington.

Shortly after their arrival, the paramedics delivered the baby at 6.15am.

Mr Timmens said: "The paramedics were brilliant."

Also that week, The man responsible for one of the region's worst cases of animal cruelty was facing prison.

The Northern Echo:

The sight, the smell and the sound that greeted investigators at Bank Top Stables was unimaginable.

Hardened cruelty investigators were physically sick and others refused to enter because of the horror in the stables, where animals appeared to have been simply locked up and left for two months to die.

The rotting bodies of about 30 animals were found in the dark outbuildings on the edge of Trimdon, County Durham, last summer. It took a council environmental health team and specialist contractors ten days to clear the filthy abandoned site.

And it took investigators from Durham Police and the RSPCA several weeks to draw up a list of the dead - even though it is still not known exactly how many animals perished.

The remains of at least 13 horses and ponies, 11 hens, four dogs and a rabbit were found, but experts struggled to provide a definite figure.