Watch: Shropshire monster plant is record-breaker

Now Shropshire's Graham Tranter has entered the Guinness World Record books for a second time – thanks to a plant he has nurtured that contains more than 2,000 tomatoes.

Graham, who lives in Glazeley, near Bridgnorth, was set the task of beating the previous record of 1,355. But he did so with ease – judges counted an astonishing 2,423 tomatoes on his home-grown monster.

The 71-year-old already holds the record for most tomatoes on a single truss.

But he said he was shocked to discover he had grown so many tomatoes on a single plant having just missed out on the record last year.

"I was not expecting to beat it by that much," he said. "The previous record-holders' plant was about four foot high, where as mine was eight foot by eight foot.

"I had to keep widening, lengthening and reinforcing the supports as it grew from four foot, to six foot and then finally eight foot.

"Even still, I honestly did not think it would grow that big."

The plant was transported from Mr Tranter's house to The Down Inn pub in Bridgnorth, where adjudicators officially totalled up the number of tomatoes on the plant.

Mr Tranter said: "We put it on a table and began cutting up the stems. When we got half through I thought I was short because there didn't seem to be many left but there were plenty underneath."

Mr Tranter, who also enters competitions up and down the country with his mammoth vegetables, fed his record-breaking tomato plant a diet of seaweed and normal plant food.

"The only difference was a little more water and a little more food," he said.

"I gave a punnet of tomatoes to The Down and the rest have been handed over to a lady who plans to turn them into chutneys to sell at a charity event."

He added: "I believe that the jars will be sold as a 'world record-breaking chutney' so it's nice none of them have gone to waste."