He had seen nothing like it anywhere and enquiries at garden centres left him none the wiser.

The 62 year old, of Star Road, Peterborough, only realised it was unusual when it flowered for a few days before it died.

But now it has grown back with a vengeance, standing three feet tall, and Mr Saunders was keen to identify it.

He has sent photographs to garden centres in the city and even contacted staff at the BBC television programme Gardeners' World, but so far has drawn a blank.

For the brief time the flower opens, the retired butcher describes the potent scent as being similar to rotten chicken.

Mr Saunders said: "Two years ago I came to Peterborough. In the summer I had one of these plants and the flower was absolutely enormous.

"I took photographs and sent them to various people, but never received any replies.

"It only flowers for about two or three days and then dies. It smells absolutely vile, the only way I can describe it is as being like rotten meat.

"The one last year was even bigger. I cut it back in the autumn thinking that would be the end of it, but now I've got this mini-forest with loads of them.

"Can somebody tell me if they are safe to touch and what they are? It would be interesting to find out."

The closest match to the flower Mr Saunders has seen was the titan arum, featuring on a wildlife documentary with Sir David Attenborough.

He said: "I did see a programme on television with Sir David Attenborough in the Amazonian jungle introducing us to the world's largest flower. Lo and behold it was my one, but I couldn't believe it was an Amazonian plant growing in Peterborough.

"As it was in the rainforest his was much larger, about nine feet across and 15 feet high. Mine isn't that big, but if I leave it here long enough I think they may well be."

Unlikely as it may seem, it is not only the plant's appearance which points to it being identified as a relative of the exotic plant. Titan arum is commonly known as the corpse flower, due to the strong fragrance it gives off.