Mother loses almost half her body weight to pick up slimming prize

A mother-of-two who was mortified after getting stuck on a rollercoaster has picked up a slimming award after losing more than nine stone.

Laura Cosbie went from a size 24 to a size 10 after joining a Slimming World group in Aylestone, Leicester.

She lost nearly half her body weight, going from 18st 13.5lb to 9st 11.5lb.

Ms Cosbie, 35, said: "My husband and I went to Alton Towers and decided to go on the ride Air.

"After a bit of a struggle I managed to get the harness to fit, but as the ride started I began to panic that it wouldn't be able to hold my weight and cried the whole way round.

"When we finally came to a stop I desperately tried to unclip my harness and get out, but it wouldn't budge.

"Eventually it took three men to get me out and I was so mortified - especially as everyone in the queue looked on - that we just went straight home afterwards."

The former retail worker, mother to 12-year-old Joshua and nine-year-old Charlotte, has won Slimming World's consultant slimmer of the year 2018 award.

She now works for the company herself, running Slimming World groups in her home city of Leicester, helping others with their weight loss.