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An allotment holder has grown what he and his family believe could be the smallest tomato ever recorded. 

Polydoros Panayi, known locally as Paul, has been tending to his various tomato plants and other organic vegetables on his two large plots at Bateman Road Allotment site since 1982. 

The 65-year-old retired maths teacher, of Royston Avenue in Chingford, started researching his tiny cherry tomatoes, which generally measure just 5mm in length, after his two daughters Maria Theoklitou, 27, and Yoda Christofi, 26, suggested they could be a record breaker. 

He found there is currently not a Guinness World Record for the smallest tomato, so Mr Panayi is now on a mission to register his tomatoes.

He said: "I grow all different kinds of tomatoes: beefsteak, money makers, big boy, but these are cheery tomatoes and they don't seem to be growing the normal size. 

"I've had them from previous years but it didn't occur to me they could be special.

"According to Google search engine, I think the unofficial record is three-quarters of an inch diameter. I haven't measured them yet but a five pence piece is 0.7 inches and I can fit four on."

For more on this story, see this week's Guardian - out Thursday