A RECEPTIONIST has conquered her deepest fears and returned to her old job - 21 years after taking a career break.

Julie Tweedy, 41, of Beamish Village, near Stanley, left law firm Pawson and Murray aged 20, when she was due to have her first child, Debra.

Second daughter Nicola, now 19, then came along, followed by son Peter, now 14.

She always intended going back to work, but when her marriage broke down, she developed severe agoraphobia - the fear of going outdoors.

"I hadn't expected my relationship to break down," she said. "When it did, it badly affected my health. But I wasn't going to let it beat me."

She went back to college, so she could help her children with homework.

"I'm glad I did it to help my children, but it helped me enormously too."

After achieving new qualifications at college, she approached Stanley JobCentre. Staff placed her on the New Deal for Lone Parents, and she found a temporary job at the town's health centre.

When her personal advisor at the JobCentre, Jeanne Francis, spotted an advertisement for her old job at Pawson and Murray, in Stanley, she decided to give it a try.

"It is still mostly the same people who work there," she said. "It's a really friendly firm, with a great atmosphere, and I really couldn't be happier."