A HOSPITAL cook is to feature in a national slimming magazine following her spectacular weight loss.

When Christine Tonge, from Bishop Auckland, County Durham, first stepped on the scales at her local slimming club, she weighed 21st 1lb and wore a size 32 dress.

Three years later, the 43-year-old mother-of-four has lost 10st and is a shapely size 12.

Mrs Tonge, whose story is featured in September's issue of Slimming magazine, said: "I'd always been a big girl and married my husband, David, in a size 18 wedding gown.

"I put on weight with each pregnancy and found it impossible to lose. I tried dieting many times, but never got anywhere. I was a typical busy mum, with very little time to myself, and my job as a hospital cook didn't help.

"It was embarrassing when they had to order my uniform specially because they didn't come in size 32."

Mrs Tonge was worried about her health, but the turning point came when her brother, Alan, once a heavy smoker, was diagnosed with oral cancer.

It was the wake-up call she needed to join a slimming club - but was mortified when she tipped the scales at 21st.

She said: "The group leader was wonderful, full of great advice and help, and I very soon realised where I had been going wrong all those years.

"I had lost 8lb after a week. I was amazed because I was eating quite a lot. After that, it was a steady 2lb to 3lb a week and today I'm a sleeker 11st."

Slimming magazine editor Marie Farquharson said: "We were all so impressed by Christine's fantastic achievement and by the way she's turned her life around and regained her health."