HEROIC police officers have had a new baby named after them after they rushed soon-to-be parents through gridlock traffic just in time for him to be delivered.

PCs James Ireland and PC Dan Bellingham from Essex Police's roads policing unit in Stanway were patrolling on the A12 earlier this month when they got caught up in the rush hour traffic.

While battling through the crawl on the London-bound carriageway, they were flagged down by a man who told them his wife was in labour and they were worried they wouldn’t make it to the hospital in time.

The pair of officers reassured the couple that they could get them there in time and helped the expectant mother and her husband into the police car. A relative followed closely behind in their vehicle.

While PC Ireland took the wheel of the police car and turned on the blue lights to weave through the A12, PC Bellingham used his experience as a new dad himself after his own wife recently had a baby and used a pregnancy calculator to work out how far into labour the woman was.

They were then able to update medics when they did arrive at hospital.

After thanking the officers for their help, the couple made it to the maternity ward with just ten minutes to spare before little James Daniel made his safe arrival into the world.

PC Ireland said he and Pc Bellingham were delighted to be able to help.

He said: “This was an amazing job for us and we were more than happy to help the couple.

"We wish them all the best with their new addition.”

The father of the tot, Steve, hailed the two officers for their amazing work.

He said: “We can’t praise James and Daniel enough, they are heroes.

"We felt that they definitely executed their duties with distinction.

"Despite how tense the situation was for us, the minute we got in the car we felt instantly reassured and that we would make it to the hospital in time without any problems.”