A SOLDIER serving in Iraq could not be with his childhood sweetheart for the birth of their first child - because he missed the plane home.

Private Tim West had hoped to join his fiancee Sarah Hutchinson when she gave birth to son, Reece, at Darlington Memorial Hospital on Sunday.

But the Army had just flown a group of soldiers back to the UK when the 21 year-old got the call, from his mother Carole, to say he was about to become a father.

Tim, of Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, who is in Um Quasar with the Royal Logistic Corps' signal division, now has to wait until at least the end of May to see his new family.

Sarah, 17, said: "We've been together since my 11th birthday - we're like soul-mates.

"It would have been really special to be together for Reece's birth but thankfully his mobile phone is working again so I can call and text him all the time to say what he's wearing and doing.

"I was devastated when he left and again when I found out he'd just missed out on a flight home last week.

"We knew this might happen, so we picked a name as soon as the scan showed I was having a boy, that way we've done as much as possible together.

"I'm sending loads of photographs so he can feel part of Reece's early days and making a video of everything, like his first bath, so he doesn't miss out.

"He also wants them to show to all his mates, he's already a proud father before he's even seen Reece.

"I can't wait for him to come home and I know he is desperate to be with us."

The couple had hoped to get married before he went to the Gulf but they didn't have the two weeks notice needed to post the bands.

Instead, they plan to marry at St Clare's Church, Newton Aycliffe, during Tim's summer leave.