A 4.5m (around 15ft) sunflower that towers above a Mitcham street could be be the biggest Merton has seen in recent years.

The Haidari family have raised the giant plant, which began growing in June, in the front garden of their home in Dalton Avenue.

Vito Haidari said: “There’s no special secret to be honest, just watering them all the time.”

Last year children at Stanford Primary in Colliers Wood grew plants topping 3m, while the year before a flower at the home of Wimbledon gardener Posey Furnish reached just under 3.5m, more than a metre under the Haidari’s effort.

There’s still a way to go before the Haidaris’ bloom challenges the current world record.

It was set in August 2009 by German gardener Hans-Peter Schiffer of Kaarst-Voorst with a sunflower which finally peaked at 8.03m (26ft 4in).