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Whenever identical twins or triplets are born their parents will often be met with a cry of 'how do you tell them apart?'

Well, one family have come up with their own way of making sure they can by colour coding their triplets' toe nails to tell them apart.

Proud mum and dad Karen and Ian Gilbert, from Pontypool, South Wales, had to buy bright nail varnish so they know which of their little girls is which.

Baby Ffion has fuschia polish on her toenails, Maddison has mint green and Paige wears purple.

Mother Karen, 33, said: 'It's not a fashion statement we really struggle to tell them apart.

'We came up with the nail varnish idea and it works a treat.

'It makes life a lot easier when it comes to our daily routine of feeding, bathing and nappy changing.

'The colour coding helps us to know who has had what!'

Karen and company director Ian matched the first letter of the baby's name with the first letter of the shade of nail polish just to make sure they always get it right.

They hope as the little girls get older they will develop individual looks and personalities to help them tell one from another.

The triplets celebrated their first birthday at the weekend after a 'fun filled year' where everything had to be done in triplicate.

The family from Pontypool, South Wales, gets through more than 120 nappies and 84 bottles of formula milk a week.

But the trio are already earning their keep with appearances on TV's Casualty and the family drama Stella.

Because they are so identical Ffion, Maddison and Paige can play the same baby on screen, so they get rotated while scenes are being filmed to avoid a single baby getting too tired.

Full time mother Karen said: 'They were all TV stars before they reached the age of one.

'They are lovely little girls who have already brought us so much joy - in triplicate.'

The trio was conceived naturally from one egg - against the odds of 160,000-1 according to the Multiple Births Foundation.

Ffion, Maddison and Paige, weighing 3lb 8oz, 3lb 5oz and 3lb 4oz, were delivered via emergency caesarean section two months early.

Karen said: 'It has been a frantic but fun-filled year.

'Going out is a military operation which we call 'Operation Triplets'.

'We can't just think, 'Oh, shall we go out?' We need at least 24 hours notice. It's like packing to go on holiday every time we leave the house.

'We have a triple pushchair and we've had to get a bigger car, a seven seater Ford Galaxy.'

Their local supermarket Morrisons has even ordered a treble baby seat shopping trolley to help the family.

The couple have a four-year-old little girl Faye who tries to help out by painting the babies toe nails.

Karen said: 'We have treble trouble - but we would not have it any other way.'