Twin boy and girl born five years apart

They may look like a normal brother and sister but Reuben and Floren Blake are among Britain's most unusual siblings.

They are twins - despite being born five years apart.

Simon Blake, 45, and his 38-year-old wife Jody had been trying to start a family without success and began fertility treatment in 2005.

During the process, five embryos were created and two implanted in Mrs Blake, which resulted in the birth of Reuben on December 9, 2006. The remaining three embryos were frozen until the couple, from Cheltenham, decided to try for another child last year.

Floren arrived on November 16 - two weeks before her due date - but five years after her twin brother.

"I tell everybody I can," said Mr Blake. "Just in kind of mundane settings where people take an interest in a newborn baby and with Reuben around as well, I find it very difficult to resist the temptation to say 'Oh and by the way they are twins'. It's almost just to see people's response. They are really amazed and surprised."

His wife, a manager for the charity WellChild, said that even Reuben was aware of the special relationship he has with his seven-week-old sister.

"He knows that she's been in the freezer - he likes to say she has been in the freezer with the chips and the chicken but obviously he doesn't really understand how it's all worked."