Paul McCartney "ecstatic" father again at 61

Paul McCartney is a father again at the age of 61 after the former Beatle's second wife, Heather Mills, gave birth to their first child, a baby girl born three weeks early by Caesarian section.

"Both she and mum are doing well. Paul and Heather are ecstatic with the news," said a statement yesterday from the couple after the birth of seven-pound Beatrice Milly. "She is a little beauty and we couldn't be prouder."

The one-legged model turned charity campaigner, who married the former Beatle in June last year, gave birth on Tuesday at a London hospital near the Abbey Road studios where the world's most famous pop group recorded their immortal albums.

The proud parents said: "She is named after Heather's mother Beatrice and Paul's Aunt Milly. Our immediate family were told the news right away and are all as overjoyed as we are at the early arrival of our little bundle of joy."

Initial press reports said that Mills gave birth to a boy. McCartney has three adult children from his marriage to first wife Linda, who died of breast cancer in 1998.