A Carlisle family have been given an unusual surprise - after discovering that their cheese plant had grown fruit.

The Monstera deliciosa, which is native to southern Mexico and Panama, is kept in households throughout the UK. But for fruit to grow, conditions have to be right.

The Leith family, who live on Etterby Scaur, have kept theirs in their conservatory since buying it about five years ago. As a result of it being kept indoors, they never thought that it would bear fruit.

"We bought it from Ikea, I think. It must've been around five or so years ago," Tina Leith told the News & Star. "It's been kept in the conservatory the entire time. We've just re-potted it as it's grown."

Tina's son, Lawrence, was the first member of the family to spot the fruit growing - and has since done some research on the plant.

"I noticed that there was something starting to grow from it that looked like a young banana," Lawrence said. "We didn't really know what it was at first, we didn't know if it was a flower or a fruit, so I looked it up."

Lawrence has found out that the fruit is actually edible, although little is known about the taste. "It's where the word deliciosa comes from in its name," he added. "I'd like to try it eventually but I think we're going to let it ripen a bit more first."

Tina said: "We've spoken to someone who said it tastes a little bit like fibreglass, so it might not be that nice. I think it needs to darken a bit more."

But, perhaps more unusually, the fruit has been able to flourish while the plant was kept inside. "From what I've read, they should be kept outside," Lawrence said. "We've just always had ours in the conservatory. It's why we're so surprised that it has managed to produce fruit."

Lawrence said that the cheese plant has simply been watered as normal and that there is no special technique.

Tina added: "We get plenty of light in here so that could have helped quite a bit."

Tina and Lawrence are not the first people to own an exotic plant that has grown fruit in the much milder climates of Cumbria.

Earlier this year, Stuart Richards was surprised to discover that his banana plant had grown miniature versions of the fruit while kept at his Cockermouth home.

Stuart said that his success was due in part to wrapping the Japanese Root Hardy Bananas in bubble wrap. He said: "I wrap it up in bubble wrap in the winter each year but I never expected them to grow this far north.

"They even survived the winter of 2010 when temperatures reached minus 10C."

Guy Barter, chief horticulturalist at the Royal Horticultural Society, said that it is indeed unusual for a cheese plant to bear fruit in the UK.

"They've done well to get it to produce fruit," he said. "It's not common at all for a cheese plant to flower while it's in the UK. The ones at Kew Gardens do, but I'm surprised that one kept in a conservatory has.

"You've really got to have a climate similar to southern Mexico or Panama."