The triple yolk plus a double yolk that ended up in the same frying pan were bought at Asda, Morley.

Spokesman Dominic Burch said: "I have never heard of a triple yolker before.

"We are well chuffed that this was bought at one of our stores. "There is an old saying that if you find one it means you will be lucky."

The eggs came from a batch labelled 'Big and British' and are believed to have been laid by a free-range hen.

Asda's egg expert Hannah Naseem said: "We've never heard of a three yolker before. Most people think themselves lucky if they get two yolks. It's eggstraordinary!

"We reckon this must be a one in a billion coincidence."

The lucky diner was a 62-year-old father-of-two who took the photo – but didn't want to be named.

"I was absolutely gob-smacked," he said after tucking in.

A Yorkshire connoisseur of bird eggs, Tony Christopher, said: "I haven't seen a triple yolker since I was a teenager over 40 years ago.

We bought some eggs from a farm at Sandy Lane near Bradford and one of them turned out to be a three yolker. My mother was so amazed that she brought her neighbour into the house to see it. And I am not sure I ever got to eat it!"

Double yolks occur in about one in 1,000 eggs, usually when hens are young.

* Asda at Morley sells 3m eggs a year. Asda as a whole sells 768m.