On Christmas Day, Marie Buchan's eight children will unwrap dozens of gifts each presented to them in a giant sack and then have a festive feast in their new four bed home.

Like any parent, their 33-year-old mother, from Birmingham, wants them to have it all and enjoy a perfect Christmas.

However, the unemployed single parent hasn't paid for any of it. Their lavish Christmas and new home is all thanks to British taxpayers.

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Determined to spoil them: Single parent Marie Buchan has bought all her children's Christmas gifts with her £2,227 a month benefits

The family receives £2,227 a month in benefits (£26,724 a year).

Marie is adamant her children deserve everything they get.

'A lot of people will see this and once they are all wrapped think "how dare she, she's on benefits and she has all these presents for her kids and we only have two or three for ours because we are working full time and can't afford it".

'But everyone deserves a Christmas and why should we on benefits not be able to? For my children not to be able to open a present on Christmas day because we're on benefits, it's just not right, there shouldn't be a stigma for that,' she told Channel 5 documentary Benefits Britain: Life On The Dole.

But Marie isn't just giving her children one present, she's showering them with gifts even though buying them plunged her into rent arrears.

Big family: The young mother is raising Tia, 12, Leah, 11, Latoya, nine, Joshua, eight, Alisha, six, Mikayla, four, Amelia, two, and Olivia, one

Won't miss out: Marie doesn't want the children to have just one present because she's on benefits, so they will each have a sackful - even though buying them meant she missed rent payments

At one point in the show, which airs this evening, she looks at the piles of presents and complains that some of her children don't have enough. 'They are all going to need a lot more,' she said.

Her eldest child gets a laptop she bought from a pawn shop.

Marie, who has been on benefits since she had her first child at the age of 19, admits she can have trouble controlling her spending.

She said: 'When there is a sale on, I'll think I'll order that and that, then at the end of the month I get a £200 bill. A catalogue bill came in this month and I thought, "if I don't pay it, I'll get charged" so I missed my rent. I really have to focus on my rent first.'

The single mother's relationship with her former partner - and father of all her children - ended last year because he couldn't handle the stress of having so many children.

Shop till you drop: The single mother admits she has trouble controlling her spending

Not enough: Looking at this pile of presents for one of her daughters, Marie said she'll need more

So the young mother is raising Tia, 12, Leah, 11, Latoya, nine, Joshua, eight, Alisha, six, Mikayla, four, Amelia, two, and Olivia, one, on her own with their father seeing them at weekends.

Thanks to her spending, she racked up £1,000 in rent arrears on their old three bed council house.

The rooms are bursting at the seams and Marie said they will need to find space for all the new toys she's bought them this Christmas.

She also got a present for herself - who brings some extra chaos to the house - a puppy called Patch.

'I felt broody, I couldn't have another baby so I got a dog,' Marie explains.

She added that she would like to work but her dream job is to be a mechanic and she has been told 'it's not for a woman, it's a male world.'

Another new arrival: The family now have a puppy because Marie felt broody

Stay at home mother: Marie said she would find it difficult to work without neglecting her brood of eight

With eight children to look after, she also feels she is a better parent as a stay at home mother.

She explains: 'If I go back to work doing 12 hours a day it would be positive as I would be at work but the effect on the kids - they would have to go to breakfast club before school, after school club and then not know when I will be home.

'So is it better to work and neglect the kids or be a stay at home mum till the benefits stop?'

Marie's festive dreams come true when she discovers towards the end of the programme that they will be given a larger council house with a garden before Christmas - and her previous rent arrears are written off.

Tonight's documentary also features Steve and Andy from Nuneaton, who each receive £100 a week on benefits.

They admit they spend most of it on drugs and alcohol, so they go through the bins in order to obtain Christmas presents.

Upcycling: Addict Steve raids bins to find toys to give away or sell

Steve, pictured with his friend Andy, said it can be difficult to afford heroin on his £100 a week benefits so they look for discarded items to sell

Rooting through a bin, Steve explains: 'The first week of December is the time to get rid of the old toys and get the kids excited about the new toys. This bin is 80 per cent toys, we can give them a good clean with Dettol.'

As a heroin addict, Steve said it can be a 'ball ache' finding the money to pay for them on benefits.

He said: 'I'm a heroin addict, I have to have to every day. A bag costs £10 and I'm on three a day.

'Somehow it always seems to drop into place and I get what I need. When I get paid, it lasts for a few days, after that I have to go on the graft either by stealling or going through the bins and selling stuff.'