We already have one 2-year-old boy and my wife is pregnant. Just as we were considering trading in the trusty Astra estate for a normal people carrier (thereby also fulfilling my wife's desire to 'sit high') we went for a 12-week scan and found to our great surprise that we are expecting triplets. Amidst the astonishment/joy/terror I immediately had a very fatherly concern - what on earth would we get to ferry the brood?

If all goes as well as we hope then we need a vehicle that will not only take two adults plus four children in child seats but also their luggage, prams, buggies etc. It also needs to have suitable access to the seats in order to lift/strap in small children. To complicate matters, my mother-in-law often visits by train so we really need to be able to take three adults (plus prams) and ideally four adults so a complete set of grandparents can squeeze in for trips out and about. Three extra rug-rats will constrain the finances as well so ideally we need all this for less than £12,000, and the more less the better.