MORE than 700 people flocked to an annual pumpkin festival at the weekend, where many stood in awe of a record-breaking pumpkin from Hampshire that had been lifted to the site by the Army.

The festival, now in its sixth year, was staged at Netley's Royal Victoria Country Park by the Jubilee sailing Trust. Among the attractions was the biggest pumpkin to be grown in Britain this year.

Grown by New Forest twins Ian and Stuart Paton, the pumpkin weighed 819lb. The 43-year-old brothers grew the record-breaker at the Pinetops Nurseries, near Lymington. An Army task force from Marchwood had been drafted in to transport the pumpkin to Netley.

Event organiser John Davison said the pumpkin helped to make the festival the most successful yet.

Mr Davison is chairman of the Jubilee Sailing Trust, which gives disabled people the opportunity to go on sailing adventures.

He said the trust is now considering hollowing out the pumpkin and floating it like a boat on a lake.

"We are thinking about hollowing it out and sailing it. It should float and this would be a first for Britain."

He added: "The festival was a great success. There was a constant stream of people coming through. The event has grown from a meeting in a barbecue shelter six years ago to this.

"The record-breaking pumpkin was a real magnet."