BY JOANNA GILBERT and FINN SCOTT-DELANY

The reigning champion of the Brighton Fiery Foods chilli-eating competition has handed his fiery crown to a newcomer.

Martin Gill, 50, of Moulsecoomb, was ribbed for looking like an accountant as he sweated through eye-wateringly hot birds-eye chilli seeds.

But he had the last laugh after beating four-time winner Andy ‘The Hat’ White, 62, into the runner’s up position.

Martin said: “I’ve been wanting to do it for a couple of years but I entered on a whim today.”

Plucky chilli eaters guzzled their way through jalapenos, scotch bonnets and naga jolokia chillis so hot they are used to make chemical weapons.

Sadomasochistic entrants worked through lava-hot morsels ranked on a Scoville scale of chilli pungency.

Several amateurs couldn’t stand the heat and bowed out in the early rounds leaving Martin and Andy to battle it out.

Members of St John’s Ambulance waited in the wings with cold yoghurt for the traumatised contestants.

After lasting a full 12 rounds in the ring of fire and facing a seemingly never-ending agony Andy bowed out.

The disconsolate former champion said: “I feel alright now but it takes a few hours to go through you. The next few days will be another matter altogether.”

Brighton Fiery Foods Festival was set up by the late Pete Seymour, known as Chilli Pepper Pete, in 2005.

The “Godfather of chillies” died of cancer aged 56 last year but his legacy lives on with wife Miranda Pellew taking the reins of the festival.

Adam Marks, of the Mr Vikki stall, said: “Before Pete and Miranda set this up we hardly ate any chillis but now we’ve become a chilli nation. Maybe it’s because we live in such a cold and damp country.”

As well as the popular chilli-eating competition a Brighton cook was celebrating after triumphing in the chilli-making competition with his ‘El Bandito’ recipe.

James Good, 35, said: “I like to keep things without too many ingredients, and it’s definitely paid off today.”