A Melksham couple thrilled to bring their premature baby home this week have spoken of the moment they met Nicolas Cage at the hospital which was caring for their son.

John Triggs, 31, and Liz Galley, 39, met the movie star when their son Harrison was being treated in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at the Royal United Hospital in Bath.

The film star was helping celebrate the 10th anniversary of Ted’s Big Day out, a fundraising day held each year which is helping to raise £4.7m for a new baby unit.

Mr Triggs said Harrison, who was born on October 2 at 2.57am weighing 3lb 10oz, was nine weeks premature and after being delivered by emergency caesarean was taken to NICU to help him grow stronger.

Harrison was in the unit when Nicolas Cage and his wife Alice Kim, who have a home in the Royal Crescent, Bath, came in to visit on October 16.

Mr Triggs said: “It was absolutely fantastic. Nicolas Cage was a lot taller in real life than I expected. I am 6ft 1inch and he was taller than me.

“He was lovely and really down to earth. You see a lot of big stars promoting themselves by going to visit hospitals and things, usually when they have a film to promote or something, but he was just showing the people of Bath that he loves them by doing this.

“He was really genuine and although the people showing him round were trying to get him to hurry up, we asked if he would come back and take some pictures with us and he and his wife did that. Ours was the only baby that his wife held.

“When it’s Harrison’s 18th birthday I am going to show him all the pictures of us with Nicolas Cage and tell him I introduced him to a film star when he was just two weeks old, and then ask him what I am going to get him for his 18th to compete with that.”

Harrison is progressing well and now weighs 4lb 11oz.

The youngster will join the Triggs family, as between them the couple already have four girls and four boys from previous relationships.

Mr Cage visited the Royal United Hospital to hear about the fundraising efforts of the Space to Grow campaign and its plans to build a new unit for sick and premature babies. The star toured the existing unit before attending lunchtime activities in the RUH’s entrance, where he met hospital staff, patients and their teddies.