THESE are the biggest Bramley apples farmer David Cannon has produced in all his years.

The largest measured seven inches in diameter which equates to the height of a 160 box of PG tips.

But Mr Cannon, a former poultry farmer until 1953, has no special tricks up his sleeves to duplicate what happened - Mother Nature just happened to work in his favour.

He said: "It's amazing really, I've never had them as big as this before.

"I think we had an early spring and the rain came at the right time perhaps when the apples were flowering.

"Also we were lucky and never had a late frost. Usually down here in the valley, in Fordham, the cold and frost slides downhill. Because we're halfway down towards the river, we quite often suffer from it.

"But you never know with things like this because you can't foresee what you'll get."

More than 40 apples have been picked from Mr Cannon's two apple trees and grouped on a bench outside Watercress Hall, in Fordham, where they "peacefully wait for their future".

They are not quite as large as the Guinness world record holding apple picked from a farm in Japan and weighing 4lbs 1oz, but nonetheless are perfect for a homemade pie.

The 83-year-old said: "There's nothing better than Bramley apples for cooking apple pies. They're the best, you can't beat them.

"The family will have some but otherwise people are welcome to take what they'd like.

"Once they're picked, they don't a long shelf-life unless they're in cold storage."