IT was a moment to rejoice for sprout fans when the ‘supersprout’ was introduced to the world at Blackminster last weekend.

Enriched with selenium – a vitamin often lacking in a modern diet, according to its creator William Haines of Chipping Campden’s W R Haines Ltd – the supersprout helps boost the immune system and has also been proven to help with fertility, as well as being sweeter to the palate.

It was presented to an eager public during the UK’s only Sprout Festival on Saturday where Mr Haines explained how and why it was created.

He said: “We have been able to enrich the environment in which the sprout grows. We are always interested in looking at new developments and at the moment lots of people are interested in being healthy so we saw it as a good chance to make a good vegetable even better. The supersprout is available at Marks & Spencers now and we have had good sales so far.

“We are trying to encourage people to eat more sprouts because it’s good for them and it’s good for us.”

During the event, chef Felice Tocchini, of the Fusion Brasserie in Stoulton, near Pershore, demonstrated some novel ways of cooking sprouts.