A TREE of fire grown in West Dorset has become a pot of gold after it produced a world record 2,407 chillies worth £900.

The 5ft plant yielded a 22lbs glut of Dorset Naga chillies, one of the hottest strains in the world.

Grower Joy Michaud, from West Bexington, had hoped to set a new world record by harvesting 1,000 chillies but ended up with a lot more. The haul has yet to be ratified by Guinness World Records.

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.

Joy sells a pack of eight chillies for £3 – and is now set to rake in £900 from the crop.

The chillis 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.

“I thought this plant had over 1,000 chillies on it but when they were being counted it became clear around halfway through that we would exceed that.

“Everyone was shocked and people were amazed when we told them and I have now applied to the Guinness World Records and am waiting to hear back from them.

“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 as the chemicals will seep through and inflame the skin.”