A LIFELONG gardening fanatic was amazed to discover that he’d grown a “double cucumber” in the greenhouse of his March home.

Peter Scotney, 66, was baffled when he picked the ‘two-cumber’ - which is about a foot long and six inches wide.

He said: “I’ve worked in nurseries all my life and I’ve been growing cucumbers in my greenhouse for about 50 years but I’ve never seen anything like that. Somehow two have grown together.

“I noticed it a couple of weeks ago. I nearly cut it off because I thought it wasn’t going to be any good deformed. It turned out fine - they’re ready to eat. I think it would have got even bigger if I’d left it.”

Mr Scotney often sells his fruit and vegetables to raise money for the renovation of St Mary’s Church.

But the twin-cucumber is not the only unusual produce to surface from his greenhouse. “I have grown some freak tomatoes and some exceptionally long runner beans,” he added.