BRITAIN'S premier autumn flower show got even bigger this year with record entries in the much-anticipated annual battle of the giants.

Nearly 180 entries were made in the giant vegetable competition at the Harrogate Autumn Flower Show, including three new classes for novice growers.

Joe Atherton, from Mansfield, scooped the prize for the heaviest beetroot with his 16.81kg (37lbs 0.9oz) vegetable, while Ian Neale, from Newport, in Wales, scooped the heavy cabbage prize, with his entry weighing in at 25.4kg (55lbs 15.95oz).

Up to 40,000 visitors and 1,000 exhibitors are set to take part in the three-day event at the Great Yorkshire Showground, which also features displays from nearly 80 top plant nurseries and Britain’s biggest exhibition of autumn blooms.

The show's theme is Postcards from the Hedge, exploring the international origins of some of our most popular plants and the daring deeds of plant hunters who risked life and limb to find new species.

Both autumn show gardens focused on providing a peaceful retreat from a busy world with Breathing Space, by Nicholas Edward Gardens, of Ripon, receiving a gold award and The Gardener’s Idyll, by North of England Horticultural Society, silver.

The show also saw the return of the popular garden border competition. Entries in the Across the Border challenge range from an oriental haven to a naturalistic design inspired by the sweeping North American Prairies.