A weight watcher has helped slimmers lose more than four million pounds - the equivalent of 10 blue whales.

Denise Priest, 63, of Chatsworth Avenue in Great Notley, has hosted meetings for 21 years after losing two and a half stones with the scheme.

The super slimmer hosts three meetings per week and could not believe how much weight she had helped people lose.

She said: “I was amazed when they told me and said are you sure that is right?

“I started off doing three meeting per week in the evenings purely because I absolutely loved it and I still do.

“After all these years it is still such a buzz.

“For some of the people it has changed their lives.”

Mrs Priest first began dieting after her 40th birthday and went to a Weight Watcher’s meeting with her friend when she was living in Rayleigh in Essex.

She went onto lead meetings and continued her work when she moved to Braintree.

She described her biggest success story as a woman from Great Leighs who dropped from 29 stone to 17 with the help of the group.

Incentives for joining her meetings include target weights for wedding dresses, weight loss recommendations from doctors and the support to keep the weight off.

Mrs Priest said: “I felt a million times better after losing weight and managed to keep it off for 21 years.

“I think that is why I love Weight Watchers so much as I couldn’t be saying to other people to do something if I didn’t know it worked.”