SHOCKED dad Chris Taylor had to make an emergency shopping trip for bigger baby clothes after wife Donna gave birth to their 12lb 3oz son.

Mrs Taylor knew baby Joseph would be on the large side, but his sheer bulk meant he had to be delivered by caesarean section at the Royal United Hospital, Bath.

Joseph and his mother were then transferred to Trowbridge Hospital where the baby is believed to be the biggest for years.

Although his weighty birth on January 11 caught the first time parents on the hop, they were soon getting to grips with their new arrival.

When Joseph arrived home at Paxmans Road, Westbury, his dad was despatched to Mothercare and Boots to stock up on clothes to fit a three-month-old baby.

Mrs Taylor, 37, said: "We had a few bigger things ready, but didn't expect him to use them so soon.

"I was shocked to find that I had carried such a heavy baby, I'm only 5ft 1in. I don't think anybody could have given birth to a baby that size naturally."

Mr Taylor, 36, who is a self-employed landscape gardener, said: "I was overwhelmed by it all. When the midwife put him on the scales the needle kept going round and round until it reached 12lb.

"We've had good support from family and friends, they've really been here for us."

Mrs Taylor, who is a credit manager for Reader's Digest children's publishing in Bath, said: "I couldn't sleep for about a month before he was born and I found it hard to get up and down the stairs.

"Fortunately now he is very well behaved."