A SLIMMER has lost six stones 4lbs in less than a year.

The sudden drop from size 24 to size 12 has given a new lease of life to 37-year-old mother-of-three Jeanette Thompson, who lives in Peabody Street, Darlington.

Mrs Thompson said yesterday, "I was a dreadful size before I decided to do something about it. Now I feel absolutely fantastic. It is like starting a new life - a far better one."

Mrs Thompson started losing weight when she joined a Slimming World class in Darlington. She is now starting a Slimming World class of her own at Barnard Castle Parish Hall on Tuesday, September 21, at 7pm. She said: "I hope to help other women to do what I did."