Twins get ready for Halloween by growing a trick or treat sized pumpkin

Twin brothers were today celebrating setting a new European record by growing a massive pumpkin weighing more than a Mini car.

Ian and Stuart Paton's giant squash weighed in at a staggering 1457lb - more than 104 stone - and had to be lifted by forklift truck.

The pumpkin smashed the previous British record of 1,341lb set by father and son farmers Mark and Frank Baggs last month.

It also trumped the European record of 1357lb set by a Belgian grower last week।
The record-breaking pumpkin took 129 days to grow and was weighed using a special winch device at the Annual Pumpkin Show in Netley, near Southampton, Hants.

The Patons used a trailer pulled by a Volvo estate car to transport their giant vegetable to the show at Netley's Royal Victoria Country Park where it was weighed in front of witnesses.

It was planted in a greenhouse in April and needed one and a half tonnes of manure to reach its current size.
Ian and Stuart, both 47, run the Pinetops nursery in Lymington, New Forest, and held the British record one year ago with a pumpkin weighing 1,188lb.

Ian said the pair were delighted to reclaim their title.

He said: "It's nice to have the record back because we had it a couple of years ago with a pumpkin weighing 1,124lb and then last year with one at 1188lb.

"This is the biggest and best so far. No one else will beat it this year.

"Stuart and I are always looking ahead and we are now going to try to grow another pumpkin to beat the world record this time next year.

"It's all about having a bit of luck and the right seeds - and we've definitely got the right seeds so it's just a matter of time now.
pumpkin


"We grow our best ones in a greenhouse to keep the wind off and plant them in one and a half tonnes of manure.

"At it's fastest stage this one was growing at 30lb a day - that's more than two stone.

"Pumpkins do most of their growing at night and it may even have managed up to 50lb in 24 hours if it was as warm as 25 degrees celsius overnight." An original Mini motor car weighs 1360lb (617kg).

The average pumpkin weighs about five pounds and takes up to three months to mature.

To establish a British record, pumpkin growers must have their vegetable weighed and photographed in front of witnesses at a recognised event.

They must then send photographs and documentary evidence to the website 'bigpumpkins.com,' which keeps British records.

The world's heaviest-ever pumpkin weighed in at 1,689lbs and was grown by Joe Jutras of Rhode Island, USA, in 2007.

But expert Clive Bevan reckons climate change means British farmers will soon be competing with their bumper crops.

He said: "Pumpkins love lots of sun, showers and humidity which is why Americans have always grown the biggest pumpkins but soon we may be able to able to grow them as big."

Controversial St Pancras frieze scrapped after train suicide image sparked fury from victims' families

Artwork showing a skeleton driving a train and a commuter appearing to fall on to the tracks has been pulled from its planned rail station exhibition amid fierce criticism.

The image was one of many featured on a frieze for a controversial sculpture planned for St Pancras in London.

However train drivers and families of suicide victims condemned the parts of the controversial frieze because its insensitivity to those who have died on the rail network.

It was due to be installed at the foot of The Meeting Place - the 30ft sculpture of a couple embracing - which was unveiled at the station last year.
But the chief executive of London & Continental Railways - which owns St Pancras - has issued instructions for work to be stopped on the basis that the image was 'completely unsuitable'.

Rob Holden is said to have been shocked at the sculpture's concept, having only discovered what was planned over the weekend.

A spokesman for the company said: 'The frieze as originally suggested will not go ahead and work on it has stopped.'

He added that the particular image could be replaced with something else to enable the frieze to go ahead in an amended form, but that no decision had been made.
grim reaper

Other images featured on the frieze include soldiers going to war and emergency workers dealing with the 7/7 bombings - an attempt to depict real-life on the railways through art.

London & Continental Railways commissioned the work and discussed the plans with sculptor Paul Day.

The 41-year-old sculptor said he hoped for a solution because the artwork would be incomplete until the frieze was added.

He said: 'I sent drawings to LCR in July and have had meetings with people at the level below Mr Holden to talk about the reasons for the images. I welcomed constructive criticism to make my work more appropriate and powerful.

'I am disappointed that Mr Holden appears to have been kept out of the loop.

'I have always been open, honest and transparent. I am not an artist who seeks to shock.

Mr Day, who is based in France, said the image was created in a tragi-comic style meant to be a metaphor for the way people's imaginations ran wild.

He added: 'The imagination and real life are often intermingled.

'It's a work of art with a joyful composition, like a ballet, albeit with a subject matter that on face value is tragic.

'Tragedy in art is about creating hope out of drama - through the beauty of the image but also by going beyond the image.'
Mr Day said his current St Pancras sculpture - the embracing couple in The Meeting Place - represented the ideal, while the images planned for the frieze depicted the counter-balance of emotions and experiences of real-life and people's imaginations.

He added that it was meant to be thought-provoking and uplifting.

He said: ''The whole relief is about railways, people and journeys.

'Any separation makes us aware of the value of what we are losing and puts things into perspective.

'I trust the public to be intelligent enough to appreciate the way in which the images were intended.'