Colleagues of a mother who had her son 14 weeks early have raised cash to buy baby monitoring gear for the hospital that saved him.

Jane Wilcock, 33, enjoyed a straightforward pregnancy until week 26 when she began experiencing back pains.

The mum-to-be, a manager with Lloyds TSB private banking in Haywards Heath, was rushed to the town's Princess Royal Hospital, where they realised she was in labour.

She was transferred to Brighton but, despite attempts to slow the birth, Joshua was born 14 weeks premature weighing just 1lb 15oz.

Seventeen months on, Joshua is a picture of health and Mrs Wilcock's colleagues have raised £2,000 to buy similar baby monitoring equipment to the device that helped save his life.

They were presenting the equipment to the Princess Royal today.

Mrs Wilcock, of Henry Burt Way, Burgess Hill, said: "Joshua was in hospital for three-and-a-half months. He was such a tiny little scrap and lived in an incubator for the first three months."

Mrs Wilcock said the pulse oximeter, which Lloyds has bought for the hospital, was important for premature babies because it alerted staff if they were struggling with potentially dangerous oxygen levels.

Joshua was transferred to St Helier Hospital in Surrey, where the pulse oximeter was used on him. He also needed a bowel operation.