A dairy farmer has beaten the record for the UK’s heaviest pumpkin by growing a 1,520lb whopper.

East Anglian Daily Times: Mark Bagg and his winning 1,520lb pumpkin is handed his prize by Thompson & Morgan's Sarah Curtis. Photo courtesy of Sarah HynesMark Bagg and his winning 1,520lb pumpkin is handed his prize by Thompson & Morgan's Sarah Curtis. Photo courtesy of Sarah Hynes (Image: Archant)

Ipswich-based seeds firm Thompson & Morgan handed over a cheque for £1,000 to Dorset farmer, Mark Baggs, at the annual Autumn Pumpkin Festival in Southampton last Saturday for his winning entry.

Mark’s pumpkin beats by 16lb the previous UK heaviest pumpkin record of 1,504lb held by pumpkin-growing experts, Stuart and Ian Paton.

Thompson & Morgan has sponsored the Autumn Pumpkin Festival since 2009, but this is the first time that a weight record has been broken.

Mark won the competition in 2011 with a pumpkin weighing a substantial 1,334lbs. He says that his interest in growing pumpkins began when he was at school, but it wasn’t until a visit to the UK National Giant Vegetables Championship in 2004 in Shepton Mallet that Mark became focused on the idea of growing a really large pumpkin.

The prize-winning specimen that Mark entered into this year’s festival in Southampton was grown from the seed of a German giant pumpkin weighing 1,391lbs. When asked the secret to transforming this seed into such an enormous pumpkin, Mark spoke about the help and support that he has had from the giant vegetable growing community.

“I’ve had almost daily contact with growers in the US and elsewhere,” he said. “People were getting in touch via message boards and email with tips and advice. And since the weigh-in at the weekend, they’re sending congratulations.”

Paul Hansord, Thompson & Morgan’s horticultural director, said: “We’ve always enjoyed being involved in the Autumn Pumpkin Festival, so as you can imagine we’re absolutely thrilled to have found a record-breaker this year.”