A Wiltshire woman gritted her teeth and ignored the pain to clinch the chilli eating title at this year’s Westbury Festival.

Carole Bianchi, 46, from Calne, beat second placed Irena Christopher from Cardiff to win the hotly-contested competition.

Carole, an NHS rehabilitation support worker at Chippenham, was named the Wiltshire 2022 Chilli Champion after munching her way through 20 chillis in 16 rounds.

She beat off compedtition from ten other rivals as the products on offer grew ever hotter.

They included the Carolina Reaper, an exceptionally hot chilli plant that measures 1,641,183 on the Scoville heat scale.

Carole said: “You just have to stay focused and ignore the pain. Everything burns, your tongue, mouth, throat, ears and stomach.

“I was still shaking for 40 minutes after the competition ended and had to make myself sick.

“You are not allowed to drink during the competition, but afterwards they give you milk to cool you down and line your stomach.”

UK chilli Queen Shahina Waseem hosted this year’s competition for the second time. Last year’s winner was Tom Staffer of Hilperton.

Spice lovers came from all over the county to Saturday’s street party and chilli fest with extra cheese.

Scores of visitors and residents were able to fry their tastebuds on an array of different chillies and food stalls from West Country producers.  

This year’s Westbury Festival is taking place from September 17 to October 9 and features arts, crafts, literature, poetry, films, talks and live music.

Westbury Town Council supports the festival. To book tickets, click here.