A pensioner has described his shock after cracking open a boiled egg for breakfast - only to find another perfect egg inside.
Bill Jones, of Tiverton, Devon, usually has boiled eggs three times a week.
And while he often receives double-yolkers from a farmer, his recent discovery was a new experience.
He said: "I was flabbergasted. It’s like a buy one, get one free offer.”
The phenomenon, known as counter-peristalsis, sees a second oocyte released by the ovary before the first egg has completely travelled through the oviduct and been laid.
The second oocyte then travels down the oviduct and has albumen and a shell deposited over it and the first egg together.
Mr Jones said: “I usually have boiled eggs three times a week thanks to a farmer who brings them in for me.
''I always have two, and I don’t bother with omelettes, and I don’t bother with fried eggs except when I’m on holiday.
“I normally get double-yolkers, so I assumed this to be one as well, but when I went to cut the top off, I saw there was a second egg inside. I couldn’t believe it.
"I took a spoon, inserted it into the double-yolked egg, and there was a perfect second egg all shelled up which I’m yet to crack."
Mr Jones contacted his daughter in London and asked her to look into the phenomenon.
“We discovered it’s called counter-peristalsis - it’s a freak of nature," he said.
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