Family Find Giant Puffball

A family didn't have mush-room on their plates for anything else when they tucked into this giant fungi which they found sprouting in their back garden.

The Zimmer family were stunned when the huge puffball - the size of six footballs - appeared overnight behind their home in Cornwall.

It was discovered by Michaela,29,when she went out to feed the donkeys on the family's farm.

Her father John said he and his wife Josephine are certain it was not there the day before.

"I cannot believe something so big could just grow in a matter of hours" said the 71-year-old retired cattle farmer.

"We often have mushrooms in that spot but have never seen anything like this before."

The puffball,which was solid on the outside but like marshmallow on the inside,was around three feet across and two feet tall.

"I just wish we had weighed it" said John."I am sure it must have been some sort of record."

The family decided they could not wait after hearing how tasty the fungicould be - they are regarded as a delicacy in some parts of the country - and began slicing it up.

"We all had some,which we friend in butter,and it was very nice.It tasted like a normal mushroom,but more delicate.

"We gave some to our friends and have kept the rest in the freezer for a special occassion" added John.

They are now hoping they can grow another,which they can enter in the Guinness Book of Records.