Thrilled family find 'malteser shaped' egg

Ms Elkington said it was in the shape of a "chocolate Malteser"

A family has said they are "thrilled" to have found a small round chicken egg.

Josh Elkington, from Bugle, near St Austell in Cornwall, said the egg was laid by one of his brown Brahma chickens called Julie.

His mum, Anna Elkington, said the little egg was in the "shape of a chocolate Malteser".

"It was so unexpected and we laughed for hours over how small this egg was," Mr Elkington said.

'So rare'

It comes after a round egg sold at Bearnes Hampton Littlewood Auctioneers in Exeter for £420, with proceeds going to the Devon Rape Crisis charity.

Mr Elkington said: "We're thrilled to have something that is known to be so rare that it's almost one in a billion.

"We're excited that it's something we can show off to people."

The British Egg Industry Council estimates 11.9 billion eggs are produced in the UK each year.