The largest family in Britain has announced that it is to swell by one more member, when the newest addition is born next April.

Sue Radford and husband Noel are already parents to 16 children and are now expecting baby number 17, just 11 months after their last child, son Caspar was born. They rose to fame when they were featured on the documentary ’15 Kids and Counting’ on Channel 4 in 2011.

The family lives in a former children’s home in Morecambe, Lancashire, and uses a minibus to get around. The children – Chris, 24, Sophie, 19, Chloe, 18, Jack, 16, Daniel, 14, Luke, 12, Millie, 12, Katie, 10, James, nine, Ellie, eight, Aimee, seven, Josh, five, Max, four, Tillie, three, Oscar, two and Casper, 11 months – are all said to be “absolutely thrilled” about their new sibling.

Mrs Radford announced the news on her Facebook page, with the Telegraph reporting her as saying: “We are so excited to announce Radford baby 17 will be joining this family in April. As you can imagine, the children are so excited. Little Tilly said to me: ‘Mummy you have a baby in your tummy’. It was so sweet.”

The Radfords are not the only large family in Britain – Derek and Debbie Simpson, from East Kilbride, have 13 children, while a family in Dundee has 12 children.