[goldoni]

From NTL news page

Pregnant women have been flocking to an upmarket store after a rumour that they will get £500 if they give birth in the shop.

Bosses at Harvey Nichols in Edinburgh have been forced to publicly deny the "urban myth" which is sweeping ante-natal classes and GPs' surgeries.

As the rumour that women who give birth in the store receive a £500 gift voucher spread, mothers-to-be have been seen loitering around the floors with no intention of making any purchases.

The last straw came when women already in the early stages of labour called the store from their mobile phones en route to maternity wards to ask if the gossip was true.

A Harvey Nichols spokeswoman said the St Andrews Square store was witnessing up to four heavily pregnant women a day wandering round in the hope that their waters will break.

"It's quite strange to see all these expectant mothers loitering with intent when we don't even have a maternity department," she said.

The spokeswoman admitted bosses would probably give a small gift to someone who had a baby in the store.

"We wouldn't be mean enough to send the woman off to the hospital without a wee present or something but I've no idea where the £500 idea came from," she said.