Alfie Patten has just become a father aged just 13 - and he insists he will be a good dad.

Alfie's girlfriend Chantelle Steadman, 15, gave birth to Maisie Roxanne in Eastbourne Hospital, East Sussex, four days ago, reports The Sun.

The boy, who is just 4ft and looks young for his age, told the newspaper: "I thought it would be good to have a baby."

But he admitted he did not think about how he would afford it.

"I don't really get pocket money. My dad sometimes gives me £10," he said.

Alfie, who lives with his mother Nicola, 43, in Eastbourne, was 12 when Maisie was conceived.

The pair, who have the support of their parents, kept the pregnancy secret until Chantelle's mother Penny noticed her daughter's swollen stomach.

Alfie said: "When my mum found out, I thought I was going to get in trouble. We wanted to have the baby but were worried how people would react.

"I didn't know what it would be like to be a dad. I will be good, though, and care for it."

Alfie's father Dennis said his son wanted to be a devoted and responsible father, but did not fully appreciate what he had taken on by having a child.

He said Alfie had wanted to be the first to hold his child.

"He could have shrugged his shoulders and sat at home on his Playstation. But he has been at the hospital every day," he said.

Chantelle and Maisie have been released from hospital and are living with her family in a council house in Eastbourne.

Reacting to the birth of Maisie Roxanne, former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith, head of the Conservatives' Centre for Social Justice think tank, said he was outraged.

The case was a "tragic example" of Britain's social decline, Mr Duncan Smith said later.

"I don't know about these particular families but too many dysfunctional families in Britain today have children growing up where anything goes.

"It exemplifies the point we have been making about broken Britain," he added.

"It's not being accusatory, it's about pointing out the complete collapse in some parts of society of any sense of what's right and wrong.

"There is no opprobrium any more about behaviour and quite often children witness behaviour that's aggressive, violent, rude and sexual. It's as if no one is saying this is wrong."