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A husband and wife lost 12 stone between them in order to renew their wedding vows.

After a tough year in which Liz Scoffield, 44, lost her brother to cancer she decided to lose weight and to renew her wedding vows.

On Saturday September 29 Mrs Scoffield and her husband Chris from North Cheam walked down the aisle at St Martin’s Church in Morden where they had originally married 18 years before.

She said: "I fluctuated a bit when we first married. I was a real yoyo dieter.

"But what really changed it for me was my brother, Ian, was diagnosed with terminal cancer and died this year.

"Up until then he was very healthy. For us it was a bit of a wake-up call and I wanted to be here for my children.

"We wanted to renew our wedding vows and I didn’t want to look like a meringue.

"No matter what happens we still have each other - Chris is my rock.

"So it was those two things that kept me on it."

The mother of two began dieting in January this year and has dropped 6st 1lb and now weighs 21st 7lb.

She has gone down from a dress size 32 to 22 and her husband Chris has dropped 5st and 10lb.

She added: "I haven’t gone out and bought a whole new wardrobe because in next few months I should drop a bit more.

"The plan is to get down another 4st and that’s where I want to be - that puts my BMI in the healthy range.

"I quite like how I’m looking now. You just feel more confident. It’s just silly things like your legs aren’t aching and you have more energy.

"I have been a big girl my whole life. You don’t want to be overweight - you want to be normal.

"Now that I’ve got this far I’m never going back."

Mrs Scoffield managed to lose the weight with help from Slimming World consultant, Linda, who she described as "wonderful".

The sessions are held at Morden Baptist Church. For more information contact Linda at 07717618842 or 02086421959.