A woman who shed more than five stones in 14 months is celebrating Shrove Tuesday with a low-fat pancake recipe.

Two years ago, Jayne Mellor, 28, from Low Moor in Bradford weighed nearly 16 stones.

She was so fed up with her weight and not being able to find clothes to fit her, she signed up to her local Weight Watchers club.

By November last year, her dress size had dropped from 26 to 12 and she now weighs an impressive 10st 7lbs.

The secret of Jayne's success is cutting out the ice cream and cold fizzy drinks that helped her first pile on the pounds when running a bouncy castle business in the Canary Islands.

"I was drinking bottles of pop instead of water," said Jayne. "Before I was eating snacks such as chocolate bars, crisps and take-aways. But now I eat fruit and veg, yoghurts and still eat Weight Watcher meals in the evening.

"The pancake recipe is the genuine article and you can still eat them even on a diet."

When the leisure business went into recession, Jayne and her partner Paul returned to Bradford where their two sons Adam, eight, and Darren, five, were born. Jayne finally decided to take action in the run-up to a holiday in Spain.

"Life's a lot different now," she said. "There's more choice of clothes and I feel a lot better. I've got more energy and I can run around with the two children."

Weight Watchers Leader in Wharfedale, Audrey Wilson, is also urging people to opt for the low calorie pancakes. "You can treat yourself with this special recipe, without feeling the consequences later," she said.

Meanwhile customers and staff at Asda in Shipley had a flipping good time in the name of charity as they battled it out to discover the best pancake tosser.

Contestants were challenged to toss as many pancakes as they could in a minute and the most adept customer was presented with an Easter egg and the winning staff member received a bottle of wine.

Those taking part were invited to make money for Shipley Lions' Skills for Life appeal by collecting sponsorship with staff member Rose Foster.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.