A POPULAR dance teacher who taught over 6,000 students in Darlington has died.

Evelyn Blenkinsopp, 81, passed away at her home in Crosby Street, Darlington, on Monday after a heart-related illness.

Mrs Blenkinsopp was born in Redcar and first danced with her late husband, David, 40 years ago.

The pair set up and ran the Blenkinsopp School of Dance - which saw more than 6,000 students win medals.

The couple started dancing together at the former Hope Wilson Institute, in Lowson Street.

In 1962, the school moved to St Herbert's Church Hall and then, in 1969, to the Bowen Road studio.

Mr Blenkinsopp was already a teacher, having taken classes from 1954 to 1957 at the Darlington Railway Institute. He died aged 59 in 1982.

Mrs Blenkinsopp continued to teach old-time dance and, later, modern sequence dancing. She retired in 2001, aged 76.

Her sister-in-law, Pat Bramwell, paid tribute to Mrs Blenkinsopp.

"It was purely and simply about dancing for her, she lived and breathed it," she said.

"She was bright and liked to socialise, but she was most happy when she was dancing."