A SINGING grandma has been crowned the North-East's most talented popstar pensioner.

Rose Bottomley, 64, won the North-East area final of the magazine Yours' Silver Stars talent contest.

She was one of 15 battling it out at Middlesbrough Theatre and won over the judges with her performances of He Was Beautiful and Sally.

The grandmother-of-two is no stranger to the limelight. Mrs Bottomley has been singing all her life and set up her own choir, which has 24 members. She has also recently graduated from university with a BA in English.

Mrs Bottomley, who lives in Saltburn, and who had been cheered on by her daughter and husband, said she was flabbergasted to have been named the region's number one silver star. She said: "I feel like I am 25 again."

Mrs Bottomley will now go on to perform with fellow showbiz acts in front of an audience of 2,000 at the grand final at Southport Theatre, Merseyside, on July 30.