A YORKSHIRE businesswoman has beaten her greatest fear by swimming with sharks to raise more than £500 for charity.

Denise Gibson, of Arkendale, near Knaresborough, took to the water and swam with the sharks at Ellesmere Port in Cheshire to raise money for people suffering from muscular dystrophy.

Denise said: "It was the most exciting thing I have ever done in my life.

"It was fantastic, absolutely exhilarating, and I would do it again tomorrow if I could."

The mother-of-two took the plunge after being challenged by a friend who was taking part in the dive to support the charity.

"My friend challenged me one night, and I know that in the cold light of day I would never have agreed to it, but then I felt: 'Yes, why not.'

"When it came to it on the day, I was asking myself what on earth I was doing, but once I was in the water I didn't have time to worry, I had too much to concentrate on with the sharks."

Denise completed the swim in a giant aquarium, the largest in Europe, watched by her husband, John.

"I am not sure what John thought of it all. At one point he said we were surrounded by 13 sharks, all about ten feet long, circling us, and one of them really was the ugliest thing."

Denise raised £550 for muscular dystrophy after being inspired by a friend's grandchild who has the condition.

Updated: 09:23 Friday, May 16, 2003