THERE was plenty of drama and a good dash of comedy timing when the director of the Regal Theatre's summer show, Kirsty Allen, went into labour at the weekend.

She not only managed to time the birth of son Noah on the show's only rest day of the week, but partner Paul Yates - who plays Gaston in the summer production of Beauty and Beast - was also on his only day off from work.

In fact Noah's debut was worthy of any stage production, as he arrived in the back of an ambulance outside his mum's home in Periton Way, Minehead - just an hour and half after she had gone into labour.

Thrilled dad Paul said: "We were a bit concerned that Noah might arrive during a performance of the show, meaning I would miss either the show or his birth, and we secretly hoped that he would arrive on Sunday - our only day off in the next week.

"The fact that he arrived right on cue shows that he was born to be involved in the theatre!"

The couple, who have two children each from previous relationships, knew they were expecting a boy and Noah weighed in at a healthy 8lbs 8.5ozs at 7.09am on August 14.

"He was overdue by three days and I'd been having little pains for about four weeks on and off so it was a real surprise when he turned up on Sunday," Kirsty said.

Both mum and baby are doing well and Kirsty, who works as a nursery nurse, said she was determined to be back behind the scenes at the Regal sooner rather than later.

Speaking to the Free Press on Tuesday, she said: "I promised everyone I'd be back soon and I'm hoping to be back on Wednesday.

"I'll take Noah with me as they're all dying to see him!"

Paul, who is a community champion at Minehead's Tesco supermarket, added: "The cast have been really supportive throughout and even ran a sweepstake to guess the birth date."

Beauty and the Beast, which runs until August 27, is the first show Kirsty has directed since joining the theatre company in 2008 as an actor.