A green-fingered grandfather has smashed three gardening records after unveiling the world's longest carrot, beetbeetroroot and radish.

Dedicated Joe Atherton, 61, has retained his Guinness World Records after cultivating the giant veg using a special fertiliser mix.

The ex-miner grew an impressive 26ft 1in (7.96m) long beetroot as well as a 20ft 6in (6.25m) long carrot and a 16ft 6in (5m) long radish at his home in Mansfield, Notts.

Granddad-of-six Joe, who works in a nursery, is showing off his whopping selection of vegetables at the Three Counties Showground in Malvern, Worcs., this weekend.

The dad-of-three told today how he grew the mammoth beetroot in a drainpipe sticking out of the ground at a 45-degree angle.

He said: "It's a great feeling to break the record.

"It's all about finding the right mixture in the compost.

"I've been growing giant vegetables for nearly thirty years."

Joe grows the vegetables but his wife Carmel, 59, has her work cut out cleaning them to prepare them for the shows.

He added: "Cleaning is the hardest part. We've got to make them look their best for the shows.

"We travel all around the country to exhibit our big vegetables.

"Last weekend I was in Harrogate and in two weeks time I'll be in Peterborough."

Another competitor, David Thomas, 48, also smashed the world record for the biggest red cabbage.

The leafy vegetable weighed in at an impressive 51lb 2oz (23.2kg) smashing the previous record by nearly 10lbs.

Farmer David, who has been growing oversized vegetables in Cornwall for 16 years, said: "I'm extremely proud. It still hasn't quite sunk in yet.

"There's no special secret to this.

"You just need the right seed, the right ground, hard work and a bit of luck."

David had been growing the cabbage since February with a little bit of help from his wife Sarah, 43, and 15-year-old daughter Madeline.

He added: "It's been sort of a family obsession over the months."

Asked what he's going to do with the red cabbage now it's broken the record, David said: "I think I'll give it to next door's pigs, apparently they love it."

The record-breaking vegetables were unveiled at the UK National Giant Vegetables Competition as part of the Autumn Show which runs until Sunday.