THOUSANDS of homes in the area were rocked by the country's biggest earthquake in 24 years on Wednesday.

And for one couple, the moment was even more moving for them as it marked the arrival of their bouncing baby boy.

Lauren Dedynski had just given birth to Brandon as the maternity room shook at Peterborough District Hospital just before 1am.

The 18-year-old, who moved from Brownlow Terrace, Stamford, to Eye, near Peterborough, earlier this month said: "I noticed that it was all shaking, it was all a bit surreal.

"It was a bit weird, I saw the windows shaking. It was a little bit funny. I didn't really notice it as much as everyone else."

Partner Andrew Duffy, 27, said: "I was cutting the umbilical cord when the building started to shake and I thought, 'what the hell was that?'.
"Five minutes later, I rang my brother in Manchester and he said there had been an earthquake."

Lauren, who works in RS Office Express stationery shop in Stamford, added: "It was just like a dream. I was just glad to get the birth over and then there was an earthquake."

Lauren's labour had started at 5.30am on Tuesday and she went to hospital at 6pm. Her mum Kate Marsh, 47, of Holland Road, Stamford, was also in the delivery room. She said: "He had just literally been born and the whole room shook and we said it felt like an earthquake.
"It was a such a strange experience."

Brandon, who weighed 9lb 8oz, is now back at home and doing well.
The quake measured 5.2 on the Richter scale. The epicentre was 50 miles away in Market Rasen.

Lincolnshire Police received 200 emergency calls, including one from Haconby where cracks had appeared in a house. A spokesman said: "Most callers wanted information. They were clearly confused and concerned about what happened."

The county fire service received 90 calls with reports of structural damage, mainly in the north of Lincolnshire. And South Kesteven District Council's buildings officer spent the night dealing with emergency calls.

East Midlands Ambulance Service said there were a lot of calls but no reports of injuries.

A HOMEOWNER faces a £7,000 repair bill after his home was damaged by Wednesday's earthquake.
Cracks appeared in the Old School House, built in 1865, after the tremors which measured 5.2 on the Richter scale hit Britain.
Owner marine scientist Mark Duffy, found 3mm cracks running along his kitchen walls where the exterior and interior walls meet. There were some running from floor to ceiling. A piece of masonry was also dislodged above a window outside.
Mr Duffy, 42, was at a conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, when the quake struck just before 1am and later returned home to find his kitchen covered in dust and flecks of paint.
A colleague had told him about the earthquake.
He said: "I can remember a previous earthquake in 2001. I was in the house at the time and it shook quite violently so I wasn't completely surprised.
"I was almost expecting some damage."
Mr Duffy, pictured right holding the dislodged stone, trained as a geologist and believes that there may be fault line in the area.
Lincolnshire Police also reported another crack in a rear wall of another Haconby house.
Mr Duffy said: "I was in the house in the previous earthquake in 2001 and think the village of Haconby may lie on a fault line."
Mr Duffy is hoping his insurance company will pay for the repairs.

What you said:

Jenny Pugh of Tennyson Drive, Bourne, works at Walkers Bookshop in Stamford.
She said: "I wondered what was going on. The room was shaking and there was a rumbling noise. It was very strange."
Brian Green, of West Street Gardens in Stamford, is retired. He said: "It felt like a rumbling and a vibration at about 1am.
"It lasted about four seconds and it woke me up. I've felt similar tremors when I was on the Greek Islands and there was one here about 20 years ago."
New mum Louise Pashley, of Carisbrook Grove, Stamford, said: "My baby slept through it.
"I didn't hear anything. I could just feel the room shaking."
Retired Gilda Burk of Queen Street, Stamford, said: "I was awake when the room started moving and the bed was shaking.
"I woke my husband up, but he told me to go back to sleep.
"I got up and saw all my neighbours' lights on, so they must have felt it too. I've never experienced anything like it and I started crying and praying."
Elizabeth Tritton, of St George's Avenue, Stamford, is retired. She said: "I was just in bed when I heard it. I felt the room shaking.
"I was a nurse in the forces and I was sent out to Barchi in Libya to help people from a big earthquake.
"This was nothing compared to that."
Retired Arthur Lightfoot of Pegasus Grove, Bourne, said: "I heard this rush of air through the windows of my bungalow and a bang.
"I thought some tiles had fallen off the roof and some of the cupboard doors had opened.
"It was quite a big noise, but afterwards it was deadly calm."
Pam Mansfield owns the Exotic Pet Refuge in Station Road, Deeping St James. She was woken to find 30 frightened monkeys.
She said: "We had our monkeys screaming and shouting half the night. Everywhere was shaking. I think the monkeys just wondered what was happening.
Landlord of the Hit or Miss pub in Foundry Road, Stamford, Darren Cheesman was closing up for the night. He said: "I was just switching off the gas and electricity in the cellar when some bottles fell off the shelves. I could see the whole place moving and all the bottles on the shelves shaking.
"I wondered what was going on, I even thought the gas might have exploded."
Previous earthquakes felt in the area include in February 1992 when Stamford, Bourne and Market Deeping were rocked by an earthquake measuring 3.1 on the Richter scale and in September 2002.
Reader Ivor Bennett reported that his living room in North Street, Stamford, rocked sending pictures swaying and ornaments moving.

BOURNE
Retired Norman Steel, 70, of Manning Road, Bourne, said: "I had just got out of my bed and never heard such a noise in my life.
"It made a lot of noise in my bedroom, that is where my airing cupboard is and the timbers in there were creaking."
Yvonne Muntaner, 42, of Waggoner's Way, Morton, said: "I wasn't sure if something had hit the house.
"It also woke up my children and we realised it was an earthquake. A few of the neighbours were hanging out of their windows.
"It was quite scary but my kids were excited."
Kasia Szwarc, 26, of The Gables, Elsea Park, Bourne, said: "I heard some rumbling and the bed was shaking. We have a touch lamp and it was on.
"I was shocked to find out it was an earthquake. I had never felt an earthquake before and I wasn't expecting something like that to happen in England."
Caroline Beland, a 48-year-old dispenser from Victoria Place, Bourne, said: "It seemed like a train was coming past.
"It was really quite noisy and then we had several things fall off the shelves. It was only a couple of light things."
Taxi driver Paul Helstrip, 61, of Hawthorn Road, Bourne, said: "I was asleep but have been having trouble with snoring and thought it was my wife shaking the bed.
"I was relieved to hear it was an earthquake as I thought it might have been some terrorist activity or something at RAF Wittering."
Housekeeper Valerie O'Rourke, 64, of Ancaster Road, Bourne, said: "The wardrobe door was shaking and my bird went mad downstairs.
"I looked out of the window and you could see birds scattering.
"It scared me as I didn't know know what it was, whether it was a bomb."

RUTLAND
Window cleaner Nick Kennedy, 52, of The Quadrant, Uppingam, said: "I was asleep, my wife woke me up and daughter Karen phoned me from Oakham.
"I thought it was an earthquake – the house was shaking."
Retired Mary Taylor, of Welland Way, Oakham, said she and her husband George were awoken by the quake. She said: "It woke us up suddenly and we looked out of the window and there were no end of lights on in the street.
"The bedhead made a noise and one ornament on the window sill fell over.
"I've once been in one before, in Malaysia."
Myra Smith, of Alexander Crescent, Oakham, said: "I woke up wondering what had happened. I didn't know what it was at all.
"It was frightening. I just stayed in bed and never moved."
Catering assistant Donna Taylor, 25, of The Sidings, Oakham, said: "It woke me up, the room was shaking. It sounded like a train but I thought it was an earthquake.
"A clothes rail was shaking and a statuette fell off the bedside table."
Retired Maureen Corcoran, of Welland Way, Oakham, said: "The whole house was shaking, but nothing fell off. I could hear ornaments shaking. It was just 'oh crikey, an earthquake'.
"First thing in the morning I went to check if the chimney was okay."
James Trigg, 29, of Ladywell, Oakham, a former removal man, said: "I'd been out with friends and when I got in I thought I heard a rumble. It sounded like a lorry had come down Ladywell. I looked upstairs to see if my girlfriend and daughter were okay.
"I never thought we would get an earthquake here."
At Tesco in Oakham about a dozen bottles of mayonnaise fell off the shelves on the grocery aisle.