Kent is celebrating a terra-breaking triumph following news that the first ever sweet potato crop has been grown and harvested in Swanley.

The super-food, which is native to Africa, Central and South America, is a first for the country’s farmers who have a bumper crop.

The first ever British grown variety has been in development for the past three years at Watts Farm in Swanley.

Joe Cottingham, the group director at Watts Farms, said: “We are hugely proud to be delivering this UK first.

“Sweet potatoes are now a UK dinner table favourite, and these taste and look exactly the same as those grown overseas, so to have them from home soil is a great feat for us.”

Over the last 12 months, the sweet potato market in the UK has increased by 46%.

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Unlike regular potato varieties, sweet potatoes require warmer conditions to grow and develop.

To help this process, growers at Watts Farm have developed a method that allows the crop to be planted in the spring, and pulled out in late October.

An average yield of three tonnes of British sweet potatoes has come from the farm and its future looks bright.