A NEWPORT gardener is celebrating getting into the British record books after growing a whopping water melon and phenomenal parsnip.

The water melon and giant parsnip were grown by Ian Neale, from Langstone, and shown at the National Amateur Gardening Show at the Bath and West Showground, Shepton Mallet.

Both took top prizes in the UK National Giant Vegetable Championships. The monster melon weighed in at 148lb, breaking the previous British record by 32lb.

Mr Neale, 61, planted the seed at the end of March and, just before the end of June, 'Juicy Lucy', as he called her, grew.

But while the world record for water melons remained untouched it looked as if his parsnip was a serious world record contender.

The parsnip weighed in at a hefty 3.4kg and Mr Neale had high hopes for it.

On Monday morning the Guinness World Records let Mr Neale know that a heavier parsnip was recorded in at 3.8kg at a show in Canada last November so Mr Neale settled for having the second best in the world and breaking both British records.

Mr Neale, who has spent over 20 years growing giant vegetables, holds records for the heaviest beetroot and the heaviest celery at past shows. He said: "I just love seeing things grow."

Other highlights at the National Amateur Gardening Show which attracted over 40,000 visitors were celebrity appearances by Tommy Walsh and Alan Titchmarsh.

Next year's Show takes place from September 2 -4 and Mr Neale will be able to try for first prizes and world records again.