Giant pumpkin wins California contest and sets US record

Travis Gienger from Anoka, Minnesota, stands behind his winning pumpkin at the 49th World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off in Half Moon Bay, California (Haven Daley/AP)

A horticulture teacher has set a new US record for the heaviest pumpkin after raising a giant gourd weighing 2,560lbs.

Travis Gienger, from Anoka, Minnesota, set the new record and won an annual pumpkin-weighing contest in northern California.