WHEN four generations of the Blundell family are together in one room, it can get very confusing.

Not only do the great-grandfather, grandfather, father and son have the same surname: they also have the same first and middle names too!

The name James Thomas Blundell has been passed along four generations since Big Jimmy, of Fairfield Drive, was born 75 years ago, in 1928.

And in December, his 21-year-old grandson, who lives in Heywood, was proud to pass on the name to his own son.

Mrs Joanne Blundell, who is married to the second of the James Thomas Blundells (39), said: "It can get very confusing because we call them all Jimmy. When everyone is at my house, it ends up being Big Jimmy, Little Jimmy and Your Jimmy, but as soon as you say the name, they all turn around!"

And when post arrives at Mrs Blundell's Wood Street home in Bury it causes much confusion, and now she just opens all the post to make it easier. She says for years it confused the national insurance and tax offices and letters for the older Jimmy are now addressed to James Thomas Blundell Senior.

She said: "It's not often you get families that pass on names any more. When my step-son had his little boy just before Christmas, we all asked if he was going to carry on the name. He was adamant that he was, but as his girlfriend Stacey is Irish, instead of calling him Jimmy, they call him Jamie. That makes it a little easier but he's still another James Thomas Blundell."