Slimmer Audrey Miller-Walder is less than half the woman she used to be after shedding a staggering 13 stones.

Audrey gradually piled on the pounds until she weighed nearly 25st and could only squeeze into huge size 34 clothes.

Her health suffered, she did not go out unless she had to and she trained herself not to catch sight of her reflection in mirrors or shop windows.

Now, five years later, Audrey, 59, weighs 11st 10lb and is a shapely size 14/16.

She feels a completely new woman, looks years younger and has bags more energy.

The turning point for Audrey came when she was so fat she could not squeeze through the turnstile at Brighton and Hove greyhound stadium.

Audrey, a TSB telephone adviser from Bevendean, said: "I hated going out socialising because of the way I looked but the girls at work persuaded me to go on a rare girls' night out.

"When I got to the turnstile I realised there was no way I would get through, I would have got wedged, and they had to open a gate at the side to let me in. You laugh and joke, and put on a brave face as if you don't care, but inside I was distraught - that was totally the last straw. I wanted to crawl away and hide.

"I had no idea how much I weighed then - my home scales did not go up high enough to weigh me. A tape measure wouldn't meet round my hips, that's how big I got. The tape measure goes up to 60 inches and it wouldn't meet by quite a bit.

"I taught myself not to see my reflection in anything - I just didn't want to know."

She still has an outsize pair of jeans from the days when she was overweight and keeps them as a reminder of how much she has lost.

Audrey said: "The jeans are size 28. I had already lost some weight then and I sent away for them but when they arrived I just sat and cried. I never even tried them on, they looked so big I couldn't face wearing them."

Audrey, who has two grandchildren and four step-grandchildren, switched to a healthy eating plan after joining a Slimming World club four years ago and still attends weekly club meetings in Portslade old village.

She says the support she received from club leaders and members spurred her on and she still wants to lose another few pounds.

Husband Frank is delighted with Audrey's new look, although he never made any comment about her size before.

She said: "I am totally new. I have got more confidence than I have ever had in my life, I know I am in control of my life - it's brilliant.

"Life is not a rehearsal, you have only got one shot at it, and I was losing my life and missing out on my family. Now I go swimming with my grandchildren, when I wouldn't have dreamed of putting on a swimming costume before, I go to the gym, and I went for a ride on the back of a friend's motorbike - something I haven't done for 35 years. My next aim is to learn to drive.

"I enjoy shopping for clothes now and wearing bright colours. Before I used to wear black all the time because I wanted to blend into the background."