Spud Janice has real a-peel

Unable to bring himself to boil her, mash her or eat her after victory in a Castlefields Allotments contest in 2009, Mike Ashton, of Shrewsbury, decided to give her pride of place on his mantelpiece.

But the desiree potato, which is named after a character in children's TV show The Muppets, is now 18 months old, haggard, rotting and generally unpleasant to look at.

Mr Ashton, 46, says Janice has won a legion of friends on Facebook and photo sharing site FlickR, where he regularly uploads new photos to show her fans how she is faring.

"It was sitting around for a while because it was a prize-winning potato and I didn't really want to get rid of it," said Mr Ashton. "It's just been on the mantelpiece for about 18 months and I've been taking pictures of it every three months or so and it's become a cult thing on Facebook.

"She's called Janice because in her youth she resembled the singer in the band in The Muppets."

Mr Ashton said Janice's remarkable story was also set to be turned into a film with a local filmmaker coming to make a documentary about the potato's life which will be uploaded to website YouTube. Mr Ashton said that immediately after Janice's victory in the 'strange vegetable' category at Castlefields Allotments Show 2009, a celebration was held in the Dog and Pheasant pub. But 18 months on, Mr Ashton said Janice's prize-winning days were behind her.

"She's certainly not going to win the best vegetable, she's way past that," he said.

But Mr Ashton said whatever happens to Janice in the future, she will definitely not end up on the dinner plate.