Melons are being grown in Kent.

Technology and warmer climate are combining to give the county opportunities to grow exotic fruit.

Successfully grown at East Malling Research in a trial with Mack Multiples, based in Paddock Wood, melons are poised to become a significant crop alongside strawberries, apples and cherries.

Christopher Atkinson, EMR's head of research, said the experiment with galia and other varieties of melon had been a great success. "It's responding very positively," he said.

Graham Caspell, commercial farm manager at East Malling, said: "This varietal trial has produced results which far exceeded the expectations of ourselves, the scientists and food technologists. We are delighted not only with the quality of the melons produced, but also the quantity, with a harvest of 9,000 to 10,000 expected."

James Cackett, melon technologist at Mack Multiples, said: "It's still a learning curve, but we have demonstrated here that it is possible to produce any kind of melon, in particular Charentais and Cantaloupe, in a commercial size as you would see grown in either open or protected environment in much hotter climates.

"Melons could become a commercial crop in Kent on north-south facing slopes."