A SELF-CONFESSED motormouth achieved the impossible and stayed silent for 24 hours.

With the help of sticky tape plastered across her lips and sheer willpower, 30-year-old Michelle Beach, who works at Cleveland Police headquarters in Middlesbrough, raised more than £200 for the breast cancer charity Breakthrough.

During the 24 hour stretch, Michelle only made one slight slip - when she inadvertently said "Hi" to a friend.

But monitors on her marathon effort decided she could make three mistakes before her attempt had to be abandoned. In the end it was her only mistake and she did an extra five minutes to make up for it.

Michelle said: "Thanks to the enforced silence I have a greater understanding of mute people and my New Year's resolution is to learn sign language.

"I found people shouted at me as if I was deaf or stupid, and some were just downright rude.

The worst part of the enforced silence was simply not being able to speak. I had to tape my mouth shut to make sure I didn't slip up again.

"I was in floods of tears when I realised I had spoken. But I'm so pleased I have raised this money.

The funny thing is I ended up with a sore throat and how that happened with not being able to speak, I don't know."