Melon sells for £38,000 at auction

A melon rated the sweetest in the world has been sold for a mouth-watering £38,000 at auction. Chinese businessman Yu Lin, 47, bid the astronomical price for the single piece of fruit at an annual melon festival in Turpan, Xinjiang, China.

Experts there gave it an official seal as the world's sweetest. Honeydew melons like this have a sugar content of 20.2g per 100g of fruit.

The award-winning melon was selected for its sweetness, colour and form. And that is a sweet success story for Chinese farmer Lu Tan, who normally earns just over £300 a month.

He said: "I will not be giving up my farm — but I plan to buy more land and next year have an even bigger and better melon to sell."