Image caption Penny Lancaster and Rod Stewart married in 2007

Singer Rod Stewart is to become a father for the eighth time at the age of 65, it has been announced.

The pop star is expecting a second child with his model wife Penny Lancaster, 39. The couple already have a four-year-old son called Alastair.

"We were thrilled and delighted to be able to tell Alastair that he was going to be the big brother to a little baby," the pair said in a statement.

Stewart married Lancaster, his third wife, three years ago.

The couple, who have been together for a decade, discovered they were expecting again while celebrating their wedding anniversary in Portofino, Italy.

Their baby is due to arrive in mid-March, just shortly after the musician celebrates his 66th birthday.

Stewart has six children from previous relationships.

He had a son and a daughter with first wife Alana Hamilton and a daughter in 1987 with model girlfriend Kelly Emberg.

Stewart's marriage to Rachel Hunter, which ended in divorce four years ago, produced two children.

The star also had a daughter in the early 1960s, who was adopted into another family.