Jack may have had his fairytale beanstalk, but eight-year-old Adam Webster and his nine-year-old sister, Lucy, are more than happy with their gigantic sunflowers.

Jack, Lucy and their flowersThe children are dwarfed by the 15ft-tall blooms, which have shot up in the garden of their home in Liddell Road, Cowley.

The green-fingered youngsters planted the flowers from seed about 12 weeks ago. Although the sunflowers have won the admiration of neighbours, father Pete Webster, 46, admitted they were a bit too big for comfort.

He compared the colourful blooms to the terrifying plant-monsters in John Wyndham's famous science fiction book Day of the Triffids.

He said: "They're like monsters without the sting!"

Picture: Andy Cooper