NEW parents Christine Allison and Neil Duff are over the moon after the birth of their daughter Holly.

After an easy pregnancy, Miss Allison, 30, a sales rep for Elemis, was ready to give birth in Trowbridge Hospital when she had to be taken to Royal United Hospital, Bath, because of high blood pressure.

"I was all set for a water birth and was having a giggle in the pool when they checked my blood pressure and it had shot up," she said.

"Officially the labour took 10 hours but from the start it took about 30. I was very happy and relieved when it was all over and that she was all healthy. I did have an easy pregnancy and craved milk and Hobnobs."

She said friends and family had given them a lot of advice and information and she and her partner had been reading a lot of books.

Proud dad Neil, 31, an IT manager for Capgemini, said: "On a scale of one to 10 I'd say we were 11 in terms of how excited we are. It's absolutely brilliant. We're looking forward to getting home and getting our little family going.

"We chose the name Holly just because we liked it and when we looked at her little face it suited her."

The couple did not know she was going to be a girl and while they did not mind which sex she was, Miss Allison's six-year-old niece Abby jumped for joy when she heard the news that her new cousin was a girl.

Born: October 28, 9.45am, Weight: 8lb 13oz, Parents: Christine Allison and Neil Duff, of Trowbridge.