Giant truffle sets record price

Mr Savini's truffle dog, Rocco, made the discovery last week

One of the biggest truffles found in decades has fetched $330,000 (£165,000) at an auction held simultaneously in Macau, London and Florence.

A Macau casino owner, Stanley Ho, made the record-breaking bid for the white truffle, which weighed 1.5kg (3.3lb).

Luciano Savini and his son found the highly-prized fungus after it was dug up by his truffle dog near Pisa, northern Italy, last week.

He said he was overwhelmed by the high price paid for his discovery.

He said: "I thought we were going to beat the record, but not to really get to this amount.

"The biggest truffle of the century and the most expensive truffle of the century. There are no more words to say - it is all very beautiful."

Mr Ho outbid British artist Damien Hirst and Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed of Abu Dhabi to the prize, according to the South China Morning Post.

All proceeds from the auction were donated to charities.