THE arrival of baby Aidan Michael Dargue has ended a 20-year wait by his great, great aunt and brought unexpected joy to a Women's Institute.

In 1983, Ruth Brown, of Durham, won first prize in a raffle -a quilt made by Merryoaks WI.

Traditionally, the quilt is used to wrap up newborn babies, but Miss Brown, 79, was expecting a long wait.

She said: "I tried to give it back to them, because I knew there was not much chance of a baby in our family."

She carefully wrapped the ornate cotton in crepe paper and tucked it away, until her great, great nephew was born in Surrey earlier this year.

She said: "It is such a beautiful quilt, so I wrapped it up nicely and that was how it stayed for 20 years.

"When Aidan arrived, I was thrilled to bits that we could finally use it.

"I said I would give it to the first baby born in my immediate family. They have taken their time, but he is gorgeous."

Margaret Thornhill, one of the WI members who made the quilt, said: "This is a happy ending to the project that we started in 1983.

"We were really pleased to see the photos of the baby in the quilt after all these years."