A YOUNG Worcester woman has managed to shed nearly nine stone - the equivalent weight of her sister.

Pamela Zachariou has shed the pounds over the past two years with the help of the Weight Watchers' scheme.

She has gone from a size 26 to a size 10-12, and has succeeded with the help of attending Weight Watchers meetings at Perdiswell.

Pamela works in the Chef's Hat chip shop on Ombersley Road, which is owned by her parents Anna and Peter.

She says the best thing about losing so much weight is the variety of clothes she can now choose from - and admits many people do not recognise the new slim line version of herself.

She is now a year into a two-year access to music course at Worcester College of Technology, and now hopes to realise her ambition of becoming a singer.

"I feel really good, and so much better than I did before, and now it's just a matter of keeping the weight off," she said.

"It has been hard work, but it was definitely worth it.

"I now feel a lot more confident, and after college I hope to become a singer, which has always been a dream."