A woman dreads Christmas due to her fear of Brussels sprouts.
A woman is left terrified by Brussels sprouts
Kerstin Shepherd gets hot, sweaty and shaky whenever she faces the festive veg and has hated them for as long as she can remember.
Shepherd tried to conquer her phobia about 15 years ago when she swallowed a sprout but says her fear of the veg is now worse than ever.
The grandmother told The Sun newspaper: "I cannot tolerate them and I certainly couldn't cook them for somebody else.
"I've done everything I can to try and overcome this phobia and there's nothing else I can do."
Shepherd claims that she would have to throw away her entire Christmas dinner as a child if any sprouts were snuck onto her plate.
She said: "To find a hidden sprout really does render everything else on that plate inedible.
"It's a question of getting up, putting the whole lot in the bin and getting a fresh plate."