These stunning photos show a championship-winning pumpkin carver’s spookily real jack-o'-lanterns - which sell for as much as £500.<br /><br />Simon McMinnis, 40, has spent over a decade chiselling his incredible Halloween lanterns, which feature famous faces such as Boris Johnson and Piers Mogan.<br /><br />The self-employed tiler began carving pumpkins in 2009 as an outlet for his creativity - after growing a squash weighing 158kg in his back garden.<br /><br />And he went on to clinch both a British national award and an international title for his amazing vegetable-based crafting skills.<br /><br />He now sells around 75 of the extremely lifelike sculptures each spooky season, with his work even being showcased on the BBC’s The One Show.<br /><br />Simon said: “I’m a tiler by trade, but I needed an outlet for the art side, and this seasonal period seemed to work well with me. <br /><br />“I used to enter competitions if I could, and then I started my [social media] page. And people started seeing the pictures that I was posting. <br /><br />“The most pleasing one was being asked to do the pregnancy reveal pumpkin. <br /><br />"That’s an unusual one, usually people ask for faces and things, but to be part of a reveal is quite a thing to be asked."<br /><br />Simon, from Poulton-le-Fylde, in Lancs., said he'd considered pursuing a career in art before going to university - and later became an independent tradesman.<br /><br />His interest in pumpkins had come from his grandfather, Peter Smith, who had used his allotment to grow the root vegetable along with mammoth onions.<br /><br />But 14 years ago, after growing two huge squashes in his back garden, Simon gave carving a try and managed to bag a national award for his design.<br /><br />He said: “I was left with a giant 600 pound (272kg) pumpkin and another 350 pound (158kg) pumpkin, it’s like ‘what do you do with it?’ <br /><br />“The big one went off to the local garden centre for display, but with the smaller one I thought I’d try and enter a competition for carving.<br /><br />"I did a witch and a cauldron, and that won first prize in the Witchwood Brewery online annual competition in 2009.”<br /><br />Simon has now carved thousands of pumpkins, which have featured the faces of ‘Lord Voldemort’ from Harry Potter books, ex-Ukip leader Nigel Farage and even James Bond actor Daniel Craig.<br /><br />And in 2013, he clinched a first place prize at the Villafane Studios Online 3d pumpkin carving competition, where he competed against worldwide entrants.<br /><br />His lifelike portraits can take up to eight hours to complete and sell for between £50 and £500 depending on the length of time they take to make them. <br /><br />Simon said his favourite pumpkin so far was a stunning 3D sculpture of an eye, adding he doesn't mind that his masterpieces eventually rot away.<br /><br />He said: "A lot of people when they see that can’t get their head around how it’s done. But that’s where I get some nice comments from.<br /><br />"But at the end of the day, the pumpkins can be composted down and recycled effectively. <br /><br />"From my point of view, as long as I’ve got my photo finished, it will last forever. It’s nice working with something that is only temporary – that makes it quite special."<br /><br />Simon said families looking for pumpkins this Halloween should find one with a green stem and a thinner frame.<br /><br />He said: “The best are ones with good green stem, a big stem, and thick flesh, which are taller rather than squat and wide - not your typical Cinderella-type pumpkins.<br /><br />“And don’t get any that are damaged or they might rot. If you find there is a hole under the bottom, they might not last very long!”
