A HUGE Halloween lantern was flickering in a Chobham front garden at the weekend, the handiwork of a prizewinning grower.

Keith Hine nurtured the pumpkin used for the traditional scary lamp on his allotment in the village, as part of his quest for growing giant vegetables.

It weighed in at around 225lbs, alongside lesser specimens of 60lb and 100lb.

Keith is a regular winner of trophies at the annual Chobham Show and other horticultural events in the area and further afield. He is also a qualified judge for vegetables and flowers.

A member of the European Giant Vegetable Growers’ Association, he would have been exhibiting the pumpkin at autumns shows if they had not been cancelled due to the pandemic.

He has also grown super-size tomatoes and cucumbers from seed, after deciding to try to “go big” last year.

“The lantern pumpkin is the biggest I’ve every grown,” he said. “The successful method seems to be preparing a one metre by one metre hole for the plant, with lots of manure followed by plenty of water.”