THIEVES stole a sat nav from a car as a man rushed his pregnant wife into hospital.

Ayesha Younis, a doctor, was watching television at home on Sunday afternoon when she started having labour pains.

Her husband, Fahad Iftikhar, took her to the hospital— but in the hurry to make sure his wife was okay, he forgot to lock his car.

The sneak thief snatched the £150 Tom Tom while Mr Iftikhar was escorting Dr Younis into the hospital.

Dr Younis, who had to have a caesarean section operation, had a healthy baby girl, Zahra, who weighed 7lbs. She arrived eight days early.

Mr Iftikhar, an accountant, who lives Bolton, said: “We were at home and she suddenly got terrible pains and started shouting about how bad it was and we had to go. I parked my car and forgot to lock it with everything going on.

“Our baby girl is beautiful and they are both doing well.“ The couple also have another daughter, five-year-old Zainab, who was with her grandmother when the drama unfolded.

Mr Iftikhar only noticed that the sat nav was missing on Wednesday, when he went to use it and discovered it had gone.

He added: “They didn’t damage my car, but I can’t believe someone did this when my wife was in labour and I was rushing her into hospital.

It’s not a nice thing to happen.”

Police are investigating.

Insp Phil Spurgeon, from Bolton South neighbourhood policing team, said: “Vehicle crime is going down and we patrol the hospital every day. It is shameful that someone has taken advantage of someone’s vulnerability.

“Thankfully the mother and baby are doing well. We will do our best to catch the person who is responsible.”