Five-year-old's 'drive-by' birthday party in Derbyshire becomes internet hit

Harry Fieldhouse, who lives in Walton, near Chesterfield, wasn’t able to celebrate his big day as he usually would with friends and family due to the latest coronavirus restrictions, meaning his parents had to think outside the box.

They organised the perfect socially-distanced alternative, inviting a handful of friends from their estate to drive past Harry’s house, with many blaring music from their cars and delivering balloons and presents to the beaming youngster who passed them party bags and cake in return.

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Harry’s mum Caroline filmed the surprise procession, which involved eight cars and lasted for around 10 minutes.

The footage, capturing Harry’s priceless reaction, has been viewed thousands of times since being shared on the popular Facebook group ‘Family Lockdown Tips & Ideas’.

“I lost my dad to cancer last January so Harry’s fourth birthday was a little bit nondescript and I was adamant we were going to give him a birthday to remember this time, despite lockdown,” said Caroline.

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"We’d heard of something similar happening in America so we contacted the parents of some of Harry’s closest friends from the estate and invited them to drive past.

"The day before, we did a letter drop on our street to make sure people knew what the noise was about and weren’t worried.

"Harry was a bit shocked at first but he absolutely loved it. It really made his day.”

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Caroline, who also has twin boys aged 12, is delighted with the response on social media, where the video has racked up more than 8,000 views since being shared.

"You’ll always get some people saying we broke Covid rules but we only invited Harry’s closest friends who live on the estate, so nobody travelled more than half a mile, everybody stayed inside their vehicles and we maintained social distancing,” she said.

“It’s been great to get such a positive reaction on Facebook. Hopefully it’s given other mums and dads some ideas about how to make their children’s birthdays extra special despite the restrictions in place.”