Dying mother's twins advertise for new family

THE ADVERTISEMENT to be placed in a local newspaper is as simple as it is straightforward. It reads: "Kids and dog for hire. Life-term contract. Sad gits need not apply."

The advert has been hand-written by twins Lauren and Ashton Mills, 10, whose mother, Tobi, is dying of cancer and only has weeks to live.

Ms Mills, 43, who is in the Churchill Hospital, Oxford, said: "I think the kids' version of the advert sums up their perspectives very well. We are a very up-front family who face up to things and talk about everything together.

"They are good kids and I want to find the right person or couple to take them on. I don't want the puppy syndrome where someone feels sorry for them and takes them on without thinking it through."

Ms Mills, a single parent, of Blackbird Leys, Oxford, was diagnosed with breast cancer three years ago and thought she had beaten the disease only to learn that secondary tumours had been discovered in her liver. Friends have set up an appeal in her name to try and raise pounds 10,000 to send the family on one final holiday. Ms Mills is also undergoing new treatment this week to try and prolong her life.