A GRANDMOTHER is flying out to Florida to fence for Britain this weekend.

Sedgefield psychologist Carole Seheult, who works for County Durham's Priority Services mental health trust, is a member of the Great Britain veteran fencing team.

The current over-60s British champion will be pitting her skills against top fencers from all the world this Sunday.

Mrs Seheult, 63, who has three grown-up children and five grandchildren, discovered she had a talent for the sport when she decided to take up fencing 12 years ago. She said: "I live in Durham and the city is very strong in fencing. It took me five or six years to get really going but this year I was the British over-60s champion."

A regular at the British Fencing Centre in Durham, which is run in partnership with Durham University, she benefits from the expertise of full-time Hungarian fencing coach Laszlo Jakab.

Mrs Seheult regularly competes in international events.

In 2001, she finished 11th in the world at the international veterans' championship held on the Caribbean island of Martinique.

And recently the mental health specialist was knocked out of the European veteran event by the French woman who is the current world champion.

She laughed: "The same woman will be competing in Tampa, Florida so I just have to hope I don't get drawn against her again."

Mrs Seheult's chosen weapon is the epee, the kind of sword made famous in films like the Three Musketeers.

Points are scored every time a "hit" is registered on your opponent's body. But, fortunately for everyone involved, the epee is blunt-tipped. Mrs Seheult expects to fight more than a dozen opponents at the weekend in a single day.