A Dover woman has started a chilli-growing business, inspired by the gift of a plant from a family friend.

Pandora Martin, 53, who lives in Danes Court, received the plant in 2013.

“It was so pretty it inspired me to harvest the seeds and grow my own,” she said.

From there, the Chilli Affair UK was born.

Pandora always enjoyed being outdoors and grew a variety of her own vegetables years beforehand.

She said: “I looked forward to the challenge of growing something new.

“There are more than 3,000 varieties of chillies, from mild and sweet to scorching hot.

“I ordered a good mix of seeds from both ends of the scale including the world’s most recent hottest, the Carolina Reaper.”

The growing season is long, and it can be six months before it is ready to sell.

“During 2014, I started sowing in March and had 15 varieties and 50 plants but with the demand I ran out early. That will not happen this year as I have more than 70 varieties and 600 plants and I started sowing early.”

Things began picking up for Mrs Martin so she started trading fresh and dried chillies and novelty gifts with themes. Some have included chocolate.

Chilli Affair UK was a finalist at The Kent Women in Business Awards 2015.

She has been asked to give a chilli-growing talk at the Cheese and Chilli Festival in Winchester, Hampshire in August.

Her plants are still growing and won’t be ripe until summer.

Pandora’s first major event will be at Whitefriars in Canterbury at its summer festival.

For more information, visit: www.chilliaffairuk.com or find it on Facebook: www.facebook.com/pandoraschilliaffair.