Crawley line dance teacher Karen Jones has the whole world dancing to her tune.

A dance she choreographed for one of her classes has become a favourite with people as far away as America, Australia and even Estonia.

Islands in the Stream has been the top line dance in this country for a record five months and has held its place in the Linedancer magazine top ten charts against opposition from top choreographers throughout the world.

Karen, 43, of Pound Hill, Crawley, said: "It was a dance which went well when I first taught it in Crawley but after that I was going to bin it.

"I didn't realise it was that good a dance and I never thought it would become Number One."

Karen wrote the dance in 45 minutes for a chicken and chips line dancing night at St Paul's church hall, Northgate.

She wanted a relatively slow dance which would not give participants indigestion after their supper.

It was saved from the bin when she had to stand in for a Canadian choreographer who was due to teach at Crawley leisure centre but was late because of a mix-up about the time.

With 350 people waiting for instruction, including many teachers, Karen decided to teach Islands in the Stream.

It took off from there and was danced in local clubs and then further afield until it became a hit all over the world.

Karen is still receiving 30 calls a week asking for detailed instructions about how the dance should be performed. It is currently being danced in Germany, Italy, France, Spain, Cyprus, America, Canada, Australia and Estonia.

Karen teaches every day and is helped by her husband Barry who is the DJ and makes training videos when she teaches at workshops.

When he is not available daughters Kelly and Sabrina take over.

Karen is a former pupil at Hazelwick comprehensive school in Crawley, where she now holds two of her weekly classes. She learns new dances and techniques all the time as line dancing moves towards pop music and disco dancing.

Karen said: "A lot of people have pre-conceived ideas that line dancing is done to cowboy music by retired people. But it is has moved on from there and now includes all types of dancing, from Latin to rock'n'roll."

She has just written a new dance which she will be teaching for the first time at the North meets South annual line dancing event near Liverpool in October. But she is keeping it under wraps until then.

She said: "I don't want to be famous for choreography because that would mean I would have to leave my classes to tour. My pleasure comes from teaching my classes."

Linedancer magazine dance editor Steve Healy said Karen held the record for staying at the top of the magazine's charts for five months. The British magazine sells more than 30,000 copies a month worldwide and is regarded as the line dance Bible.