TOP growers showed off their skills by creating mammoth pumpkins in an allotmenteer showdown.

Allotment owners from Clacton organised a contest to find the area’s champion grower while raising cash for charity.

They have been nurturing their giant masterpieces for months and have now held the weigh-in, with the triumphant pumpkin belonging to Jim Grubb.

Clacton and District Allotments secretary Geoff Beales said: “We have had a trophy kicking around but we don’t think it has been used since 1930.

“We decided to start up the competition so we can award the cup each year. We started it now because we’re coming up to our 100th anniversary.

“It has been really competitive and there has been plenty of banter over the summer. It has been a lot of fun and we have some really impressive efforts.”

The allotment owners all chipped in and the proceeds from the competition will be donated to St Helena Hospice.

They will not reveal the weight of the top pumpkins because some are set to be donated to local pubs to run guess-the-weight contests to boost the charity total.