A KEEN gardener got more than she bargained for after the heatwave prompted bunches of bananas to grow in her back garden.

Marion Brown never imagined seeing such healthy return on her investment after adding a banana plant to her collection a decade ago.

She and husband Terry grow a variety of flowers and some vegetables in their Ardleigh garden, and planted the unusual addition just to see what would happen.

The mum-of-two tends to it every winter by covering it to protect against the harsh British climate and packing straw or hay around its base.

Every year the plant grows, with ten plants standing where originally there was one – the original now standing six feet tall.

It wasn’t until the almost unprecedented heat of this summer that Mrs Brown noticed the small fruit flourishing too.

Mrs Brown, of John-de-bois Hill, said: “They are very strange looking plants – it looks a bit like an alien or something that landed from outer space.

“We have ten separate plants, with the one big one now featuring around 15 or 20 bananas.

“Our neighbour, who’s very into gardening, came round to see them the other day and he just couldn’t believe it.”

The bananas may be too small to eat, but they are still growing, with a second plant now starting to bear fruit.

Bananas are extremely difficult to grow in the UK, with very few cases of gardeners successfully harvesting them.

Mrs Brown said: “I don’t know about when or if you can eat them, I just hope they keep growing in size like they have been.”