WHEN proud parents Joanne and Jonathan May planned a playmate for their toddler son Jacob William, they had no idea he would soon be spoilt for choice with three new brothers.

But the couple are now celebrating three bouncing bundles of joy.

Jonathan, aged 30, of Long Meadow, Bromley Cross, said: "At first we only expected one, so three was a bit of a bolt from the blue -- especially three boys. And Joanne's only tiny so I don't understand how she managed to carry them.

"When there are three there is three times more chance of something being wrong, but they are all fine and we are very relieved that everything is okay."

Triplets Harrison Glenn, 4lb 10oz, Charles Owen, 5Ib 7oz, and Nathaniel Luke, 4lb 7oz, were delivered at 35 weeks by Caesarean section, all within three minutes of each other, at the Royal Bolton Hospital.

But choosing their names was something of a struggle, despite knowing at the 20-week scan that all three babies were boys. Jonathan and Joanne were still arguing about them on their way to theatre -- although the new mum had the final word because she had done all the hard work carrying them for so long.

Now the only real problem is telling them apart because even though they are non-identical they do look remarkably similar and the difference is only clear when they are side by side.

The babies were born last Monday, but now their proud mum and dad have decided to share their bundles of joy with the whole town.

Bolton Wanderers fan Jonathan is also a little worried about how many cars he is going to have to sell at a Salford Quays Toyota dealership, where he is general sales manager, to afford season tickets for them all.

But he added: "If we continue to receive the help we've had so far from both sets of grandparents and my bosses then we should have no problems.

"I'd also like to thank everyone at the hospital, especially the midwives and consultant, who have all given Joanne and the babies first class attention."

Joanne, 28, should return home next week but the triplets will be kept in for a while longer just to make sure that everything is okay.

Fortunately though, they have already got a new friend there to keep them company as Jonathan's sister, Julia, gave birth to their cousin Oliver just two weeks ago.