Donna May Henderson, of Cleadon, spent years dieting then piling the pounds back on before joining her local Slimming World group in 1995.

She then managed to go from 14st 4lb to 9st 3lb.

The 42-year-old mum of two said she was prompted to lose weight after her mum mocked the size of her backside.

She became a Slimming World consultant in 1996, and has now been named the organisation's 'top target consultant' of 2009.

Mrs Henderson said: "I had always been chubby, even though I did a lot of sport at school.

"But after having my two boys, now 16 and 14, I was the most overweight I'd ever been.

"It was a comment my mam made that finally led me to Slimming World.

"The whole family was watching a home video of me and my sons playing in the garden, and my mam said 'Donna, look at the size of your backside!'"

Mrs Henderson runs three Slimming World groups in South Shields and Boldon Colliery, each with about 80 members.