TOWERING more than 11ft high, this big prickle is the talk of the neighbourhood.

It is the flower spike of an agave plant – and shot up over the last two months until it reached the giddy heights of 11ft 6ins.

It has been attracting attention in a front garden in Connaught Crescent, Branksome, where it came as quite a shock to owner Maureen Cross, 69.

She had kept the plant in her garden for 15 years without it flowering, but recently transferred it to a pot in the front when the stem began to shoot up.

“It took me by surprise,” she told the Echo, “It seemed to be growing two inches a day.

“My husband kept going out there and measuring it with a long cane. We can’t reach the top of it now.”

Green fingered Maureen said she’s a great lover of gardening.

“My husband said if I planted a wooden table it would grow!” she added.

Agave plants hail from Mexico and are known as the century plant for the length of time they grow before flowering.

They flower just once in their lives and then die – but new plants often sprout from the base.