HE is only four feet tall. So it came as a surprise to seven-year-old Joshua Evans when a sunflower he planted two months ago started to overshadow him.

Currently it is nearing 12 feet -- THREE times his height.

And according to mum Melissa, it looks like there are a few more inches in the flower yet to come. Joshua was handed a sunflower seed when he attended a session with the Beavers.

He planted it in a pot and carefully nurtured it. Within weeks it had outgrown the pot and had to be transferred to the garden.

Melissa, aged 31, of Sharples Avenue, Sharples, said: "I don't think Joshua has quite grasped the size of it. We've never had a sunflower quite as big. Our previous highest was around six feet."