Oh my Gourd! 'Pregnant' pumpkins surprise villagers

One of the "birthing" pumpkins was made by Byron Elliott, 36, who thought the design was "suitably quirky"

A family have been raising smiles - and eyebrows - in their village with an extremely unusual Halloween pumpkin display.

As well as carving out gap-toothed ghouls, the King Elliot family, from Walsoken, in Norfolk, have combined three gourds, two apples and several carrots - to create pregnant pumpkins that appear to be giving birth.

The so-called "birthing" pumpkins - which seem to be producing baby gourds - have caused a virtual stir on social media, with one villager posting how she "couldn't stop laughing".

"For no obvious reason, my husband made a 'birthing' pumpkin and then our 15-year-old son Charley copied him," said Charlotte King, 34.

"We have had lots of comments on social media, it doesn't normally gain much attention, but the pregnant pumpkins have this year," she added.

Comments posted included "easily the best I've ever seen", "whoever made these is obviously very talented" and "some people are so clever".

The family's Halloween display features two "birthing" pumpkins

The King Elliott family get very competitive at this time of the year.

Ms King, husband Byron Elliot, 36, and their two children, along with other family members, vie to create the most impressive pumpkin.

Whoever is judged to have come last is splattered in the face with a cream pie or has flour tipped over them.

Ms King said the tradition had been going on for a few years.

She said the family shop locally for their pumpkins and set to work for around two to three hours to create their Halloween "masterpieces".

Last year's loser Lynn Smith, 47, after suffering her forfeit for carving the worst pumpkin