IF YOU think you are seeing double on this page, then don’t be alarmed.

Five sets of twins hit the headlines when they all started at the same school together – and now they are back in the news as they prepare to move to secondary school.

The twins appeared in The Gazette in November 2007, after they all started at Hook Infant School in the same year group.

Since then, they have been joined by yet another set of twins who joined the school, in Church View, in Year 5 – creating an unprecedented number of twins in the same year group.

Now, all 12 children will be going to Robert May’s School, in Odiham – where they will be joined by another three sets of twins starting in Year 7 at the same time.

James Thompson, whose 11-year-old twin sons Liam and Ashley appeared in The Gazette in 2007 when they started at Hook Infant School, said: “They have loved it. They loved their sports and are very competitive.”

The father-of-two, from Bell Meadow Road, Hook, said twins run in the family – his dad is a twin as is his wife’s cousin.

He said of his sons being among so many other twins at school: “It’s definitely different. It’s nice to have twins and be different, but in this school they aren’t! We were very surprised when they joined Hook and there were other twins.”

The six twins at Hook Junior School, four sets of whom are identical, are among a year group of 97 pupils.

Twins account for about three per cent of all babies born in the UK, meaning that a normal number of twins for a year group of that size would be just one.

Lynn Martin, headteacher at the school, said she had never seen so many in one year, adding: “It’s very unusual. We have never come across it before.

“We may get one set of twins in a year group, but we might not have any. We don’t know what was in the water in the year they were born!”

The children were all separated from their twin during classes.

Mrs Martin said: “The ones who are identical get called both names with the hope of getting the right one. But we treat them all as individuals.

“They were all in different classes. They shone in their own right. Having a brother or sister in the same year group is supportive for them.”