THE heat was on when a fiery contest returned to west Dorset.

The infamous Dorset Naga Chilli Growing Challenge took place in West Bexington, with the winner seeing more than 900 chillies on a single plant.

Alex Rhodes-Hench, a budding horticulturalist from Bournemouth, won the competition after he picked 927 red chillies off a chilli plant he'd grown.

Mr Rhodes-Hench said: “I entered just to see if I could do it really. I have been growing chillies for several years now, but this is the first year I have entered. I tried growing a plant in each of the last two years, but they were never big enough to enter the competition.

“I started growing chillies because I like spicy food. I then started to make my own sauces and chilli powders. I use them for cooking and to stitch up friends who can’t handle the heat.”

The Dorset Naga used to be the hottest chilli in the world but has since been superseded by other super-hot chillies.

Joy Michaud, owner of Sea Spring Farm, organises the event every year.

She said: “He grew a superb plant. It was a tough competition, but none could live up to Alex’s plant.

“Super-hots are notoriously difficult to grow but with the Dorset Naga you are capable of being enormously productive.”