WHEN friends at her local pub bet Sharon Irvine that she could not stop smoking she readily took up the challenge.

The bet was that they would have to make a donation to the breast cancer unit at Darlington Memorial Hospital if she managed six months without a cigarette.

Sharon, of Melsonby, near Richmond, completed the challenge and presented £655 to the unit.

However, she admitted that now the challenge is over she has started smoking again.

"It was knowing it was only until November which kept me going a lot of the time,'' she said.

"That first cigarette in the pub on Saturday was horrible - but I suppose you just get used to them again,'' she said.

Sharon estimates she has put on more than a stone in weight after she stopped smoking, because she nibbled biscuits and snacks to stifle the withdrawal symptoms