A FAMILY could have been forgiven for thinking a fairy godmother had been at work after discovering a pumpkin had ballooned to mammoth proportions.

Deanna Arrowsmith, from Brompton, Northallerton, was amazed to find hidden by some leaves on her family’s allotment a pumpkin of enormous proportions.

The family have only had their allotment for two years. They had sown a few pumpkin seeds from a packet bought in the supermarket in the hope they would have one that could be used as a Halloween lantern. It had only ever been watered and how it reached such a great size remains a mystery.

The pumpkin proved so immense it needed several people to lift it, and measured 72 inches around its circumference.

“It had been covered up with big leaves and when we pulled them away I was gobsmacked,” said Mrs Arrowsmith. “We couldn’t even get it in a wheelbarrow.

“All we did was plant the seeds from a packet we got from the supermarket and then gave them some water. We only did it because of Halloween. My daughter wanted to grow some pumpkins that we could put a candle in it. It’s going to need more than one candle now.”

Seeds from the pumpkin are now to be sold on behalf of the allotment association to other people wanting to grow giant Halloween lanterns next year. The money will be reinvested back into the allotments.

The second of three pumpkins they had grown on the allotment also reached frightening proportions. It is to be placed on the bar of the Crown Inn at Brompton. Pub-goers will then be invited to make a donation to guess its weight, which is to raise funds for local charities.