A STILLINGTON couple who have been up all night feeding their new son now have another 11 hungry mouths to feed after their pet Labrador produced an astonishing litter of puppies.

Black Labrador Ruby gave birth to 12 pups and all but one has survived - leaving Chris Slater and his partner Katy Jeffrey with their work cut out.

Chris, 31, a builder, and Katy, 36, an administrator at Alne Hall Cheshire Home, celebrated the birth of their son Alfie Slater just 18 months ago.

So when Ruby became pregnant they were prepared to welcome some new additions to the family - but not quite so many.

Ruby gave birth to six female and five male live pups - and the couple have been so busy they have not got around to naming any of them, even the runt of the litter.

Chris knocked together a home-made pen to keep the pups in the kitchen and has been sharing the bottle feeding with Katy in between tending to Alfie's needs.

Feeds are needed for the puppies every three hours. Chris, of Stillington Grange, Easingwold Road, said: "We would like people to get in touch to home the puppies. We weren't expecting so many."

Anyone wanting to home a puppy should contact Chris on 01347 824 764.