IT may be unlucky for some - but the number 13 gave Serena Stratford the lucky break she needed.

Serena, of Kingley Avenue, Alcester, has just passed her driving test - at the 13th attempt.

She started driving on her 17th birthday but just couldn't convince an examiner she was good enough to go solo.

"I just kept getting nervous," said Serena, now aged 19 and working at an estate agency in Alcester.

"I tried stuff from the chemist and the doctor to try to calm me down but nothing worked.

"In the end, I had a holiday just before my test and that seemed to relax me."

When Serena turned up for her test last Wednesday, she was told that it had been cancelled because staff at the centre had locked themselves out. It was rearranged for Thursday - the day before her theory certificate ran out.

What advice does Serena have for other nervous learner drivers?

"Just keep at it, you'll get there in the end. My instructor, Nick Barkworth, was really patient with me. He was brilliant."

Serena has spent more than £500 on driving tests and lost count of how much lessons have cost her.

But at least one good thing has come out of it - she has clocked up nearly three years' no claims bonus so, as she put it: "My insurance is dirt cheap!"