'Ridiculous' jibe at twins' dad, 71

Richard Roden, from Walsall in the West Midlands, posed in The Sun with wife Lisa, 25, and identical eight-month-old daughters Emily and Ruby, and said: "Being a dad at 71 is definitely more tiring than in my 20s, but they give me such a lot of pleasure. I wouldn't swap them for anything - not even winning the lottery. They have made my life complete."

But his granddaughter, Leanne Roden, 22, said she laughed when she heard the news. "It's ridiculous. He's 71, he's already got about 10 kids."

Ms Roden, who is currently visiting her parents in Walsall having recently moved back to Britain from Germany, has not spoken to her grandfather since she was eight because of a family feud.

She said: "My cousin told me it was in the paper. She said it was ridiculous as well. At 71 having kids is ridiculous."

Mr Roden married Lisa a month ago - four years after first meeting while attending a further education college together. A holiday to Weston-super-Mare in 2006 cemented their love, he said, and the couple started trying for a baby at the beginning of 2007.

The twins were born in February this year, Emily weighing 5lb 5oz and Ruby 4lb 6oz.

Mr Roden, who has 10 other children from two previous marriages, said people assumed he was the children's grandfather when out and about.

His wife, who has another daughter aged eight from a previous relationship, also told how people shouted "cradle snatcher" at him, and his older daughters took the news they were together "badly". But she said she was proud of their relationship, and the arrival of the twins had made their happiness complete.

She told The Sun: "I do worry about something happening to Richard and the twins being left without a dad. But he is fit and healthy for his age. We are just taking each day as it comes. The twins have really made our happiness complete - and Richard seems 20 years younger now."