A TRANSPORT company is pulling out all the stops to make sure there are enough pumpkins in the shops to make sure we can enjoy Hallowe'en.

Chard-based transport and logistics company C&D has been engaged by The Jolly Group to distribute precious cargoes of pumpkins to wholesale resellers, farm shops and pumpkin patches in and around the South West.

Chard & Ilminster News:

Lorna Hammond, managing director of C&D South West, said: “We’re often called upon to transport commodities that require a special amount of care and attention, but Hallowe'en pumpkins rank high on the list of the most unusual.

“Jolly Pumpkins approached us at the beginning of summer as a specialist haulier to make sure that we could distribute their precious produce safely and securely, applying the same amount of loving care and attention to detail as their growers.

"Deploying some specialist loading techniques and specially adapted trailers we’ve already transported over 4,000 pumpkins to their new homes in time for the Hallowe'en celebrations, and we’ve still a week to go.

Chard & Ilminster News:

“The team and I at C&D are really looking forward to seeing each and every one of them carved into ‘Jack O’Lanterns’, on display in gardens and on doorsteps across the region on October 31 this year.”

Ross Wright, owner of The Jolly Group, said: “We plant our seeds as early as April and it takes six months to get our pumpkins to an acceptable size, so it’s essential that we work with a transport company who we can trust to distribute them with the same care and attention that we apply when growing them.

“For our Jolly Pumpkin pick your own event in Exeter, we have over 50 varieties available from wrinkly ones, knobbly ones, shiny pumpkins in an array of different shapes and sizes, to lumpy squashes and quirky gourds.

"With varieties like ‘Turks Turban’, ‘Polar Bear’, ‘The Crown Prince’ and ‘The Goosebump’ their names are as unusual as their shape.”

Ross added: "We’re delighted to be working with Lorna and the C&D team to take our pumpkins to market. It’s great to know that they’re in safe hands ready for what I’m sure will be a pretty spooktacular Halloween.”