TAILORESS Fiona Brookes was shattered when she was made redundant after 20 years in her only job since leaving school.

But yesterday she opened her own shop, Brookes, in Market Place, Barnard Castle, just along the road from the one that stopped trading.

She has signed up two of her former colleagues to work part-time in the new business -Sharon Clark and Carol Longstaffe - which will make men's suits and sell a range of other clothing. Her mother, Val Metcalf, will also work for the business.

Mrs Brookes went straight from school to become an apprentice at Ken and Margaret Brown's tailors, which shut down a few weeks ago when the couple retired.

Mrs Brookes, a mother of four, said yesterday: "It was a blow to be made redundant after all that time, as I hadn't much hope of finding another job in tailoring.

"But then I heard of this other shop being available to rent, with space behind it for a workshop, so I moved quickly to get my own business into operation."