JOYCE Locke thinks there must be something in the soil in Old Town after she dug up a monster potato in her garden.

Mrs Locke, 80, was digging up the potatoes on Sunday when she pulled out the mighty tuber, which weighs in at a whopping 2.5lbs.

The couple, who usually only grow fruit, are not sure if it is the biggest potato on record.

But at 8ins by 14ins, they definitely won't be short of chips.

"I thought it was a stone when I first saw it," said Mrs Locke.

"It was definitely a shock when I found out it was a potato.

"We didn't even plant any this year so I think they must have come from compost scraps.

"I found it among the strawberries I planted and you don't expect to dig up something as big as this in your back garden.

"It's quite strange really because we didn't grow any potatoes this year and we didn't even grow any last year so to have this is very funny."

Mrs Locke's husband Peter, 86, was just as surprised by the find.

"He was in the garden weeding with me, and when he saw it just said What is that?'"

But the couple say they haven't given their amazing find a special home. "It's just been put with all the normal potatoes where we always keep them," said Mrs Locke.

"There's no point keeping it in a special place, it's not like we're not going to eat it.

"I shall probably boil it up for a meal one day, like I would any other.

"But we don't really eat lots of potatoes so I'm not sure when that will be."

Until then the giant spud will continue to dwarf all the other supermarket-bought potatoes in Mrs Locke's vegetable rack.

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