Pumpkin growers in Maidstone have carved out a spooktacular Halloween deal with a supermarket chain.

Farmers in Chart Sutton will see their bumper crop of more than a million pumpkins sold in Asda stores across Britain this year.

Jake and Mark Thompson from Dan Mackelden Ltd have sold their fruit to the retailer for the past 15 years but this year they will go all over England, Wales and Scotland.

A team of 40 people handpick the pumpkins, which range from 13cm to more than 27cm in diameter, then wash and dry each one individually.

Jemma Thompson, who is president of pumpkin picking for the business based at Lested Farm in Plough Wents Road, said: “All our pumpkins are handpicked from September onwards and a great amount of care and effort is put into ensuring they are of the highest quality for people to carve and eat at Halloween.”

Charlie Mills, Asda’s category manager for fresh produce, said: “We have a long-standing relationship with Dan Mackelden and after one of the biggest bumper crops ever, we hope customers buy British this Halloween with these spook-tacular pumpkins grown locally.”