First pictures of snatched twin

It should have been a picture of pure happiness for the family album. New-born twins are cradled in their father's arms on their first day at home.

But Richard Rice, 30, is holding daughters Elizabeth and Susannah all the closer today knowing that Elizabeth was snatched from her hospital cot and was missing for almost seven hours in an abduction which he said put him and his wife Deanne, 32, through "crushing desperation".

Little Elizabeth is safe and well after being recovered from an address in Dudley last night, and today the pride and love that any father would feel were tempered with relief and gratitude that their ordeal had a happy ending.

Two women, aged 18 and 27, and two men, aged 52 and 73, are being questioned by police at separate police stations over the abduction.

Richard Rice said he first learned of Elizabeth's disappearance from the cot at the end of her mother's bed when he went to Wordsley Hospital in Stourbridge, West Midlands, to take her and Susannah home. "A member of staff ushered me out saying: 'No, no, no, no one can come in'. I am just waiting, sat down, and hear somebody saying that a baby had gone missing. You don't for a moment think that it is yours."

But within minutes a nurse ushered Mr Rice into a side room and told him the devastating news.

"That was the last thing I was expecting to hear to be honest," he said. "You would never think it was yours, it is always somebody else's. I was in shock. I was absolutely devastated."

As he sat with his wife cradling their remaining daughter, Mr Rice learned Elizabeth had been taken just after being fed. He said his wife had only "put her feet up" and dozed off while waiting for him to return with a car seat and blankets to take their daughters home.

His wife was woken by the commotion in the ward, he said, and added: "She woke up drowsy, looked around and saw only one baby. Obviously [she] approached the staff and explained the situation that one of the babies had gone missing."

The discovery sparked hours of anxiety for the couple who waited at home in Stourbridge with Susannah and their elder daughter, Rebecca aged 16 months, as police launched their massive search for the missing baby.

"I was just hoping she was going to be found," he said. "[It was] Just absolutely crushing desperation."

The couple's wait for news was ended shortly after 8.30pm by a call from police, who said they had found a newborn baby girl and had taken her to another hospital in the area. Mr Rice said: "Straightaway you think: 'No, do not get your hopes up'."

Mr Rice drove to the hospital and said the journey had been one of increasing anxiety. "Just the whole drive there you are praying: 'Oh please it has to be her, surely nobody gives another child up on the same day.' You're thinking: 'Will I recognise her - what does she look like?' But as soon as you get there obviously, being the parent of identical twins it is clear that it is her."

Mr Rice said that as soon as he saw his daughter it was "like winning the Lottery. I was just over the moon, just wanted to phone Deanne up to tell her they have found her and she is alright."

Elizabeth's mother spent the night at home and was finally reunited with her daughter early this morning when Mr Rice carried her into the house.

Hospital chiefs today admitted security cameras in the maternity ward were not working when Elizabeth was snatched. Paul Farendon, chief executive of Wordsley Hospital Trust, said there had been a serious security lapse.

However, Mr Rice said he did not want to blame the staff at the ward. "It is the last thing on our minds," he said. "If somebody wants to snatch a baby - or snatch a car - or whatever and they're determined enough they will do it, no matter what security you had in place."

And he said he and his wife were now struggling to come to terms with what had happened. But he wanted to make a normal life for the twins. "You have got to be very careful not to stifle them," he said. "We have got to try to bring them up as normal and balanced as we can and keep them happy."