A MOTHER and daughter who have lost nearly 20 stone between them, have helped to inspire a group of slimmers to shed around 321 stone in the past 12 months.

Infant school teacher Nicola Dyer was featured in the Echo last summer after shedding more than the weight of one of her pupils.

She went on to launch her own Slimming World group at her school in Christchurch which has been so successful she is set to launch a second group this weekend.

Nicola said: "I joined Slimming World three years ago to help support my lovely mum who was facing terrible health issues. She has diabetes and at one point we thought she was about to pass away because of kidney problems which was a complication of her condition."

But now Barbara, 70, who tipped the scales at 29 and a half stone at her heaviest is being used by doctors at the Royal Bournemouth Hospital as an example of how weight loss can improve diabetes.

Barbara who now weighs 14 stone and lives with her daughter Nicola in Southbourne, is thrilled at the change the loss of weight has had on her health.

She said: “My diabetes control is the best it has ever been. I used to need more than 80 units of insulin every day, now I only need 12 and have managed to stop all my other medication. I'm able to start living life again."

Nicola who weighed 20 and a half stone at her heaviest, said: "We had both tried many different diets over the years, sometimes losing a few stone, only to put it back on and more but losing so far we have lost nearly 20 stone between us after joining Slimming World."

Nicola runs her a group at Christchurch Infant School from 7.30pm on Tuesday evenings and is launching a second group at the same venue this weekend.

She adds: "I am now teaching part-time so I can help more people achieve their weight loss dreams too"

The new group starts at 8.30am on Saturday September 10.