AFTER starting with a modest mobile shop, Mary Sparrow became one of the country's leading florists, despite a handicap that would have stopped most in their tracks.

Born with one arm, Ms Sparrow overcame her disability and is celebrating 40 years running her business.

The daughter of a miner in Easington Colliery, County Durham, Ms Sparrow's father, Wilfred, was so concerned at her disability that he saved hard to make sure his only child had a good start in her working life.

With a gift of £1,000 from her father, she decided to buy a van and start a fruit and veg round in her home village.

As well as greengroceries, she also sold flowers, which went so well she bought premises in 1964 and opened a florists.

Not satisfied with only selling flowers, she enrolled at North Tyneside College to learn all she could about the artform.

In four years, she gained the three top grades in City and Guilds and went on to pass her National Diploma, the highest achievable qualification in floristry.

She married David Peel and continued to run the shop in Bede Street, in Easington Colliery. She later moved to her present premises in Seaside Lane.

With so many qualifications, Ms Sparrow was appointed to launch the floristry department at Stockton and Billingham College, and went on to head a similar department at Houghall College, in Durham.