Growing jam with wild strawberries is almost unheard of inside the M25 realm.

However, 82-year-old Malcolm Prior has done just that as well as growing a host of other weird and wonderful plants all in his back garden.

“I suppose it started when I was a child and I’d go onto the allotments with my father” Mr Prior, of Swans Way, Enfield, said.

The pensioner has recently been honoured for his jam making skills at the Enfield Town show earlier this month and Mr Prior told the Enfield Independent how by chance, he started growing strawberries.

He said: “It was quite incredible. I was coming home a holiday to Cornwall around 30 years back and when I parked up at home I found wild strawberries runners on my bumper.

“It must have been from travelling through the smaller roads but I decided to stick them in the ground and they’ve been there ever since.

“I cannot imagine there are many, if any, people with wild strawberries in their garden.”

The Enfield born and bred man did not stop at strawberries and now has a flowering cherry tree along with raspberry, blackcurrant and gooseberry plants to name a few.

“I recently bought a walnut plant and mango plant but it will be sometime before they produce any fruit.”

Even when evacuated from Enfield during World War II, Mr Prior found time to grow plants at the house in Banbury to keep his mind at ease.

Julie Foster, who awarded Mr Prior with the top prize at the Enfield show, said: “Malcolm’s wild strawberry jam tasted divine and was visually perfect.

“I particularly liked Malcolml’s modern style producing a jam with a wet, juicy appearance but without it being runny or sticky.

“He had achieved the technically challenging task of bringing sweetness to the jam without overwhelming the natural sharpness and flavour of the wild fruit and bringing form to the jam without smashing the individual and very delicate wild strawberries.”

Not content with just growing plants, the 82-year-old has had a new lease of life, recently performing solo on stage for the first time and doing public speaking.

“I also took control of a plane for the first time – that was very scary. One of my son’s friends was able to take me up, it was amazing” Mr Prior added.

On secrets of how to get the best strawberry jam, he recommended: “freezing the fruit in a robust polythene bag and when frozen rolling the bag in your hands until you see all the seeds fall off the outside of the fruit, giving your finished jam a better colour and texture.”