The father-of-twelve whose family will receive a new six-bedroom council house at the taxpayers’ expense in a move which has sparked widespread controversy insists they “deserve” their new home.

The Star exclusively revealed yesterday that Tim Fisk, 44, and his pregnant partner Mandy Ball, 41, are set to move in to a new home in Ipswich with 10 children after borough bosses agreed to merge together two houses.

The work, costing £6,000 according to an Ipswich Borough Council (IBC) spokesman, will see builders knock through an unoccupied house next door to where the family live in Glamorgan Road, creating a new six-bedroom home.

The unemployed couple, whose children in the house range from 15 years old to eleven months, have lived at their current property for seven years.

And today Mr Fisk reveals he has “worked all his life” but was forced to give up security guard employment in Clacton-on-Sea, Essex, three years ago to care for his partner who requires round-the-clock care.

He also disclosed he had to become a full time carer to his 14-year-old son Daniel, who is blind in one eye and has serious learning difficulties.

He argued he was therefore entitled to the extra space to raise his family, saying: “I think it is disgusting that people who don’t know us judge us and say we don’t deserve this new house – but we do deserve it.

“Daniel has a community nurse who comes in every week for him. She says he needs a proper wet room because he has flooded the bathroom before.

“We were actually told we would have a bigger house when we moved in before the council suggested knocking the other one through when it became available.

“But it’s not fair that people are signing petitions and having meetings behind our back when they don’t have the full facts.

“It’s our human right how many children we have. They don’t hang around on street corners and cause a nuisance. They are doing really well at school.

“We have received threats about the move and I have had to install CCTV to protect my family. It’s made us very upset people have reacted like this.”

Explaining the decision to combine to the two houses, the borough spokesman admitted it was a “very unusual situation” but insisted it was the most “cost-effective option” to meet the family’s needs.

A total of 84 people signed a petition in opposition to the move, which has provoked a mixed reaction across the country after making national headlines.