THE 20 surviving children of a love triangle dockyard worker are getting together, some for the first time.

Timothy Barella fathered 17 children to his wife, Barbara. But next door, five more of his offspring were living with their mother - Barbara's sister, Elizabeth.

The two families lived happily side by side in their terraced homes in Sunderland for several decades. Now, the 20 are to meet at a party.

Mr Barella married Barbara in 1923, and they had their first child in 1929. He died in November 1986 at the age of 76, having fathered 22 children.

His eighth child, Timothy Dixon, has organised the family reunion and will meet brothers and sisters he has never even seen.

He said: "This is something we should have done years ago. It's 14 years since our dad died, and we had drifted apart over the years. There are some brothers and sisters I haven't seen for 50 years and others I have not even met."

Some of the children, now aged between 45 and 70, have moved as far as Canada, although many stayed near their roots in Sunderland.