Biodegradable coffee cups are being 'grown' from fruit by an innovative design company in a bid to cut down on plastic waste.

The reusable cups are made from gourds, a fruit in the pumpkin family, which are grown inside 3D printed moulds to make them the perfect coffee-cup shape when picked.

The fast-growing squashes were used by our ancestors as drinking containers, and thanks to their waxy outer shell, can be dried out and used to hold liquids.

The architecture and design company, Creme, now grow cup and flask-shaped gourds at a farm near New York, USA, but started out by testing the moulds in their studio in Brooklyn, New York.

The Telegraph understands that the cups are in the design phase and not currently for sale, but company has had inquiries from companies in the UK and around the world.