A BOUNCING baby girl took her young parents by surprise when she was born two weeks early in an hotel. Natalie Bolt, aged 16, who lives in Cowper Lane in Harpenden, was on holiday in Norwich with her family and boyfriend when she gave birth to baby Alisha

A BOUNCING baby girl took her young parents by surprise when she was born two weeks early in an hotel.

Natalie Bolt, aged 16, who lives in Cowper Lane in Harpenden, was on holiday in Norwich with her family and boyfriend when she gave birth to baby Alisha in a local Premier Inn.

Natalie, a pupil at Sir John Lawes School in Harpenden, was in labour for less than three hours and Alisha, who arrived just after 11am on Sunday morning, had already been born by the time the paramedics arrived.

Natalie, who lives with her uncle Jonathan Hill, said of the birth: "I had quite a lot to eat the night before and I thought probably I'd just eaten too much - though I soon realised that wasn't the case. It was quite frightening."

But Alisha proved to be a healthy 6lb 10oz baby and on Monday her proud father, 21-year-old Ak Miah from St Albans, bought a car seat so that he could drive his new family back to Harpenden.

Richard Jennings, partner of Natalie's mother Desiree Bolt, said that it was a surreal morning: "What appeared to be a stomach upset turned out to be a beautiful baby girl a few hours later! It blossomed into an amazing day and the whole thing was like a fairytale."

Natalie and Alisha are currently recovering at home and Ak, who works as a stock supervisor in Wilkinson's in St Albans, starts his paternity leave this weekend. He will look after Alisha when Natalie returns to school after Easter.

Mrs Bolt, who is currently working as a nurse assistant in Suffolk, said that her daughter, who hopes to become a make-up artist, was very happy. She added: "Natalie is busy showing off little Alisha to all our visiting family members and despite being very tired, she's a radiant mother."

She added: "Although it was unexpected, we couldn't have wished for a better place for Alisha to be born. From the receptionist to the restaurant staff, everybody at the hotel was so eager to lend a helping hand and we weren't even allowed to pay for our stay.