A PICKERING family’s monster sunflower is the talk of the neighbourhood.

The plant, which has been grown by nine-year-old Heather Hunter and her mother Valerie, stands at more than 12ft.

Valerie said: “It’s the biggest sunflower we’ve ever grown and it towers over the garage."

The huge sunflower isn’t quite a record-breaker yet. The tallest sunflower ever, according to the Guinness World Records, was 30ft one inch, and was grown by Hans-Peter Schiffer in Germany.