THE runner-up at the Great Dorset Chilli Festival Cook-off has booked his place at the World Chilli Championship in Alabama.

Ian Horne, from the New Forest village of Brockenhurst, won the recent UK Chilli Cook-off event, which took place in Hampshire.

The win means four out of the past five UK Chilli Cook-off national champions qualified via the heats at Great Dorset Chilli Festival.

Ian, otherwise known by his competition name Dil Chilli, has now qualified for the World Open Chilli Championships at Orange Beach, Alabama.

The Dorset runner-up cooked a chilli con carne from scratch in fours hours at the national competition.

After impressing the judges and claiming victory, Ian can now make his plans for the global event in November where chefs compete for a $10,000 prize.

The cook-offs are organised by the UK Chilli Cook-off Association across the country and raise money for children’s cancer charity CLIC Sargent.

The dates for the 2018 Great Dorset Chilli Festival are due to be announced soon.