An expectant mother who went into labour three months early had to give birth in Manchester because there were no specialist facilities available in Sussex.

Staff at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton told Clare Knight the nearest available intensive care cot was 250 miles away at St Mary's Hospital in Manchester.

Clare, 30, and her partner Greg Curl, who live in Newhaven, now face a 500-mile round trip to see their son Harrison, who weighed only two pounds when he was born last week.

Greg, a 27-year-old firefighter, said: "We were quite shocked when we heard she had to go there. At that moment you need your family and friends around you so we felt a bit isolated.

"They were going to airlift us but because of the weather we couldn't fly."

The couple were driven by ambulance to the hospital and Clare eventually gave birth at 10.55pm on Tuesday.

Harrison is being fed just half a millilitre of milk an hour as he fights for life.

Greg said: "He has had a brain scan which has come back fine. He has all his fingers and all his toes and at this stage everything should hopefully be fine. But staff are quick to remind us that things can change.

"It's touch and go but he's holding up and doing well. All the medical staff have been excellent.

"Clare has returned home now but is obviously missing her baby. We are planning to go up there again on Tuesday night or Wednesday morning.

"But our two-year-old son Elliott has also been in hospital and because we have to look after him we cannot afford to keep spending five hours on the motorway."

Ian Keeber, a spokesman for Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust, said: "We try to accommodate anyone delivering in Brighton with the right level of intensive care but we were absolutely full.

"Normally, if we can't provide a cot we look for the nearest other hospital which can. On that day we couldn't find another locally. Last Sunday the nearest available intensive care cot was Manchester.

"It's regrettable it was that far. We did pay for a private ambulance to take her as it would have been unfair to ask the Sussex Ambulance Service. We also sent a midwife and paramedics."