THE names were the same for two pairs of twins - one set of them from Stourport - as they all celebrated their first birthdays during the same week.

It was a welcome anniversary for Alfie and Archie Stokes and their parents, Russell Stokes and Helen Roscoe, who run the New Manor pub in Minster Road.

The couple became parents after undergoing fertility treatment, with Miss Roscoe, 39, describing their experiences through seven attempts at IVF over eight years as an "emotional rollercoaster".

Midland Fertility Services, based in Aldridge - the clinic that helped them realise their dream of parenthood - held a special party to mark the birthday, bringing Alfie and Archie face to face with their namesakes, Alfie and Archie James.

They were born to Sutton Coldfield couple, Grainger and Clare James, six days before the Stourport twins arrived in the world.

Miss Roscoe said: "I couldn't believe it when we met Alfie and Archie James's parents and our histories of trying for a baby were so similar."

Her children were born on May 10 last year. Setbacks she had suffered before that included the death of a baby girl, Katie, who died when she was just four days old, in 1995 from a condition, undiagnosed at birth, which meant the left side of her heart had not formed.

Her twin boys were conceived after three cycles of intra cytoplasmic sperm injection, in which a single selected healthy sperm is injected into the egg.

"People asked if it was an anti-climax after waiting so long but it has been amazing," said Miss Roscoe, who added the past year had been the best of her life.

Dr Gillian Lockwood, medical director at Midland Fertility Services, described both sets of twins as very special.

She added: "We wanted to celebrate their milestone first birthday because of the coincidence of their names, their close birthdays and because of what their parents experienced."