Frankenstein farmers are using technology imported from the USA to grow fiendish pumpkins.

Husband and wife Guy and Emily French are trialling the products at their Foxes Farm production sites in Green Lane, Aldham and Basildon as they gear up for their busiest period of the year.

A mould is attached to baby pumpkins which grow into the scary shape.

Emily said the couple, who also grow their own Christmas trees, are always looking across the Atlantic for inspiration on how to improve.

She said: “It was an idea Glen had after seeing it in America – they are always ahead of the game when it comes to Halloween.

“We decided we would trial it this year and grow some using the moulds, we wanted to see whether it works and if it was popular before we decided to do too many.

“Somethings are great in the USA but just do not translate when they get over here, so this year it is just for marketing.

“If the reaction is good we will look at doing more next year.”

About 20 pumpkins have been given the monster treatment this time around.

Emily said it is crucial to ensure the baby pumpkin is going to be plump enough before attaching the brace.

She said: “You have to make sure your pumpkin is the right size otherwise it just won’t work.

“The process starts when it is starting to form a recognisable pumpkin shape and then the mould gets bolted on.

“After that it will just grow to be in that shape.”

Both sites will have their Pumpkin Patches open from now until Halloween which gives youngsters the chance to visit their farm and pick their own spooky fruit to decorate.

Emily said: “We open our farm up at this time of year until Halloween and this is a really busy period for us in terms of retail.

“It sounds unbelievable but the rest of our year goes into the planning and preparation for our really busy time between Halloween and Christmas.

“We love what we do because the people we get to see our really happy and in the spirit of Christmas and Halloween.

“There is a lot of interacting with children and we love to see them enjoying themselves.

“What we are seeing is especially with Halloween it is just getting bigger and bigger every year.”