Patricia Hewitson contact her local radio, BBC Radio Devon to help her identify a large plant growing in her garden.

The 65-year-old told their gardening show The Potting Shed that there was a ‘sickly sweet pong’ coming from the plant in her Exmouth garden, which she found growing among the petunias.

But instead of receiving advice on how to get rid of a troublesome weed, she discovered she had actually been growing a five-foot-tall cannabis plant.

BBC gardening expert Sarah Chesters broke the news to Hewitson on air.  They deduced that it probably originated from a seed in her bird feeder.

A Devon and Cornwall police spokesperson told the BBC that if someone should come into possession of a marijuana plant, it must promptly be destroyed.