WEST Dorset chilli grower Joy Michaud has smashed another record with her ‘super hot’ Dorset Naga.

The challenge was to grow more than 1000 chillies from the notoriously difficult Dorset Naga variety – but when the official count reached 2,407.

So many that grower Joy from Sea Spring Seeds in West Bexington has applied to the Guinness Book of Records for the title of most chillies grown from one plant.

Joy, with husband Michael, developed the Dorset Naga from a Bangladeshi chilli and it was revealed as the then hottest in the world in 2006.

Chilli fans relished the fiery taste and it’s by far the couple’s most popular variety – but it’s not an easy plant to cultivate and yields can be low, said Joy.

So she set out to prove it could be as productive as it was hot and last week observers from the Clifton Chilli Club in Bristol counted the haul.

Joy said: “It was much more than we expected.

“I was so terrified after being so brash about it that we wouldn’t even reach the 1000.”

Bridport and Lyme Regis News:

The 5ft plant yielded a 22lbs harvest and each of the potent two-inch chillies contains more heat than eight vindaloo curries.

The Dorset Naga chilli measures 1.2million units on the Scoville scale, the way of measuring heat in chillies.

The chillies are so hot Joy had to protect herself by wearing goggles and two pairs of latex gloves.

Joy, 55, said: “It really is astonishing to think about how much heat is on this plant.

“It is holding more heat than any other I can think of. The most chillies we have ever had on a plant is about 700.

“Not only that, but the chillies are much hotter this year than ever before with an average reading of 1.2million on the Scoville heat scale.

“This could be because of the warm summer as the hotter the weather, the hotter the chilli.

“The Dorset Naga chillies are so full of chemicals they can be quite dangerous.

“If their skin is intact they are okay but, if not, precautions must be taken.

“When I am picking or preparing them I wear two layers of latex gloves and I change them every 15 minutes.”

There isn’t currently a world record category for the most chillies grown on one plant and that’s what Joy is applying for.

She said: “It could be ages before we hear but if they agree to the category then we are in.”

Joy issued the chilli hallenge to her customers who have until tomorrow to submit their entries but so far the most has been 400.

She added: “That is pretty good because it is a difficult plant to grow. But I have proved it can be done.”

Joy sells a pack of eight chillies for £3 and her harvest is worth £900.