When the managing director of a business in Gloucestershire brought a pot plant into the office 15 years ago, little did he expect that it would dominate the building and become a talking point.

Des Brennan, managing director of Protective Solutions Limited, based in Oldends Lane, Stonehouse, believes that the fluorescent lights and the warmth of the building are ideal conditions for the ivy plant.

Account Manager, Dean Seawert, said: "It has gone mad, it loves this environment, and of course we absolutely love it as well. Some people put it at a couple of hundred feet [in length] but because it goes round and round we don't really know where you would measure it from, but it is huge."

"It's a shock when you first come in - it's a bit like Day of the Triffids - but I haven't been attacked or killed yet!"

"It's absolutely fantastic, everybody loves it, and it's really, really good for our mental health and air purification."

"Customers come in and they always want to talk about it and always want to see it."