Feeling a bit stressed this Christmas Eve?

Well spare a thought for Sue Radford, the woman at the helm of Britain’s biggest family.

She and husband Noel welcomed baby number 21, Bonnie Raye, into the world last month, meaning she currently has four children under the age of four — as well as the rest of the brood.

That means yet another stocking on the (groaning) mantelpiece at their chaotic home in Morecambe, Lancs, and another personalised bauble on the tree to join those belonging to Chris, 29, Sophie, 25, Chloe, 23, Jack, 21, Daniel, 19, Luke, 18, Millie, 17, Katie, 16, James, 15, Ellie, 13, Aimee, 12, Josh, 11, Max, ten, Tillie, eight, Oscar, seven, Casper, six, Hallie, three, Phoebe, two, and Archie, one.

Christmas Day at the Radfords will involve dinner for 30 (including grandparents and four grandchildren). Here, Britain’s bravest — or should we say barmiest? — parents, talk us through their epic Christmas preparations.

Mother Sue Radford holds her latest child Bonnie (pictured right) and proud father Noel stands (pictured left) at the mantelpiece

PRESENTS GALORE

When you have 20 children (son Alfie was stillborn in 2013) present buying requires military planning. And strict budgeting. Sue says: ‘We don’t have credit cards — I don’t believe in them — so we budget on between £100 and £200 for a main present for each of the kids.

‘The older kids tend to get more spent on them because they want things like Xboxes and TVs. They can’t always have it, though.

‘This year Josh wants an Xbox and so does Oscar, but because he’s only seven, he can share Josh’s. The kids are actually quite good about sharing, because it’s a necessity.’

Each child gets an apple and an orange in their stocking, and fillers like colouring pencils, small toys and books. The older girls get make-up, which Sue lets them pick for each other ‘because I don’t wear make-up much’.

Sue Radford holds her latest child Bonnie

This still means a present bill of around £5,000. The family famously doesn’t claim any benefits, save for Child Benefit, and Noel’s bakery business doesn’t exactly bring in enough to put them in the millionaire bracket.

‘We save for it over the year, putting money away in an account. I do supermarket savings stamps for the food shop too,’ says Sue.

Each of the children is also expected to buy presents too. ‘We give them some money each and they buy a little thing for us, and whichever of their brothers and sisters they want to.’

Each child who is home on Christmas morning gets a stocking. Come the morning, each stocking will be filled, and Santa will also have left a pile of presents for each child. Then the carnage begins.

‘We used to try to have a turns system, but that doesn’t work,’ says Sue. ‘So now they just all pile in. By the end you can’t see any carpet.’

Do they have time to buy gifts for each other? ‘Oh yes,’ says Noel. ‘I got Sue’s first, because it’s the most important one.’

TEARS AND TANTRUMS

Even the ever-calm Sue admits that she gets stressed in the build-up to Christmas. ‘I write endless lists, but still end up at 2am thinking “Oh God”. You always worry that you’ve forgotten someone, or that someone has got more than someone else.’

Noel says the biggest meltdowns tend to involve Selection Boxes.

‘My Dad comes and says: “Oh they shouldn’t be eating all those chocolates when they will be having their dinner”, but you can’t stop them, can you? There are always fights about the Selection Boxes though. In the past we’ve tried to put stickers on, or write their names, so they can identify whose is whose, but it never works.

‘You still have someone screaming: “That’s MY Curly Wurly.” ’

Parents Noel and Sue Radford hold their latest child Bonnie. That means yet another stocking on the (groaning) mantelpiece at their chaotic home in Morecambe, Lancs

ALL WRAPPED UP

Sue considers herself a demon wrapper. In a 15-minute session, she can wrap 20 gifts.

She has roll after roll of sticky tape and starts wrapping presents in August, to avoid Repetitive Strain Injury. ‘I buy presents through the year, and wrap them as they come in,’ she says.

‘One of our biggest headaches at Christmas is where to hide all the gifts. We have them everywhere — even in the boiler cupboard. The trick is remembering where!’

She buys 60 to 70 rolls of wrapping paper. ‘I do wrap absolutely everything but my mum doesn’t. She puts everything in big bags.’

Noel says he has quite a tricky role acting as a look-out when Sue is trying to find a quiet corner to wrap.

‘She’ll say: “Make sure the kids don’t come in and see”, which is actually quite difficult.’

TROLLEY DASH

Noel and Sue do the big food shop themselves, generally taking some of the older ones to help. Not the younger ones? ‘Are you mad?’ she says. ‘Never.’

They usually require two trolleys, sometimes three, and it costs around £400 to £500. Wouldn’t it be easier getting a Tesco delivery?

‘I don’t think I’d inflict that on the delivery man. Can you imagine?’

Christmas dinner — always cooked by Noel — involves ‘the biggest turkey crown I can get’ a gammon and also a joint of beef. ‘We have two ovens now, which is a blessing. The worst thing is to have a big turkey that won’t fit in the oven.’

It also requires ten kilos of potatoes, four kilos of carrots, two cabbages, 60 Yorkshire puddings (‘some of the kids will have four, if you let them’) and at least 80 pigs in blankets.

Every single child likes Brussels sprouts, unlike in many a family, which means they need a whopping 2.5 kilos of them.

‘Noel does them with bacon bits in and they all have them. I’m the only one who hates the things, and won’t touch them,’ says Sue.

Most of the vegetables are prepped the night before: ‘Everyone has their tasks,’ says Sue. One will do the carrots, another the potatoes.

‘No one really likes Christmas pudding, so we have trifle and maybe a gateau.’

Noel and Sue do the big food shop themselves, generally taking some of the older ones to help. Not the younger ones? ‘Are you mad?’ she says. ‘Never'

The family appeared on ITV's This Morning to discuss their busy Christmas routine

The little ones have their Christmas dinner plated up for them, but everyone else helps themselves.

‘The table itself only seats 16, but people can sit around the island unit too. We should really get a bigger table, but I’m not sure you can,’ says Sue.

Who does the washing up? ‘Everyone has to pitch in.’ The washing machine is routinely on three or four times a day but on Christmas Day Sue tries to give herself a day off from her laundry.

‘You have to have a breather sometimes, don’t you?’ she says.

THAT’S CRACKERS

Even the biggest packs only contain 12 crackers, so the Radfords need three packs, so everyone gets a paper hat.

It’s also a rule that everyone has to read out their rubbish joke.

‘That means Christmas dinner can take a while,’ says Noel.

BATTERY POWER

‘I buy batteries in bulk too, packets at a time,’ says Sue.

‘The absolute worst bit of Christmas Day is putting the batteries in toys and actually getting to them through all the packaging and those twiddly little fixings that you have to unscrew.’

HOME TRADITIONS

The Radfords are sticklers for doing things the way they have always done them.

Putting up the decorations is an event in itself, as is Christmas Eve being a pyjama day.

‘In the morning they all get a bag, with new Christmas PJs in, and we have a day where no one gets dressed. We all sit and watch a Christmas movie and have hot chocolate with marshmallows.’

The family favourite is Twister, which obviously has to be played in shifts, to avoid a festive trip to the local A&E unit

On Christmas Eve night, we put a mince pie out for Santa. Noel says: ‘He only gets one; not one from each child. That would be a bit nuts’ — and then they all trot off to bed.

‘We still have seven of them who believe in Santa. The older ones are brilliant about keeping the magic going.’

QUEEN’S SPEECH

‘We don’t bother with that,’ says Sue. ‘We wouldn’t hear her over the racket anyway.’

While Her Majesty is not essential viewing, a traditional Christmas movie is. ‘Elf and Santa Paws are our favourites.

‘You’d be surprised at how many kids we can get on each sofa when they all squish up,’ adds Sue.

TWISTER TURNS

The family favourite is Twister, which obviously has to be played in shifts, to avoid a festive trip to the local A&E unit.

‘It can get a bit chaotic,’ says Sue. When the smaller kids have gone to bed, the older kids like to get the Monopoly board out.

Playing together is the secret to Happy Families, says Sue.

‘The bonus of having so many children is that you can split them up into teams. You are never short of players.’

THE CLEAR UP

Sue says: ‘The worst thing is the packaging. We have a mountain of it. After Christmas we have to take the minibus to the tip to get rid of it.’ Then it’s really all over. Apart from a few birthdays, that is . . .