A WIDNES mum who recycles used kitchens has been hailed as one of the best female entrepreneurs in the UK.

Helen Lord is in the top three shortlist for a NatWest everywoman Award, in the category for inspirational women running a business that has been trading for between three and five years.

The winners of the annual awards will be announced at The Dorchester hotel in London next month.

Carl Fogarty, the most successful World Superbike racer of all time and former winner of reality TV show I’m a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!, was thrilled when she sold his designer kitchen to the family of a disabled child.

The 49-year-old was interviewed by leading businesswomen who rigorously assessed her company.

Mum-of-four Helen started Used Kitchen Exchange with nothing more than a laptop, a phone and a car.

She came up with the idea after refurbishing her family home on Coroners Lane on a budget.

On eBay she found a £100,000 Clive Christian kitchen for £5,000.

The former recruitment consultant said: “It started off with me buying my own second-hand kitchen – we didn’t have the money to buy a new one.

“I fitted it with my husband.

“We discovered skills we never knew we had.”

Helen now employs seven people and has recently refurbished offices at home to accommodate ambitious plans to go nationwide.

Her innovative approach won a Green Apple Environment Award in Parliament on Friday.

Helen said: “Kitchens are made from evil stuff.

“MDF (medium density fibreboard) is sawdust stuck together with glue.

“It doesn’t biodegrade and is carcinogenic.

“We are preventing landfill on our doorstep next to our schools and shops.”

Over the next three years she hopes to save the amount of kitchens it would take to fill 21 football pitches from becoming landfill.

“Carl Fogarty was chuffed his top-of-the-range kitchen was bought by a family with a disabled child,” said Helen.

“It enabled them to get a high-quality kitchen at a price they could afford.

“It is rewarding. It is a passion that drives you.

“To be told you are doing good by the country’s top entrepreneurs is a great validation.

“I feel proud to be flying the flag for Halton and for women.”