York slimmer Sue Hayes and her husband Lee have had their ups and downs over the past six years...at least in terms of Sue's struggle with her weight.

But Sue, who now runs her own slimming class after successfully shedding four stones, was delighted to be able to fit into her original wedding dress today when she and Lee renewed their vows in front of her entire Dringhouses class.

When Sue, 31, and Lee, 24, of Bellhouse Way, Foxwood, were preparing to get married six years ago they could not have predicted the trouble ahead.

Sue suffered an ectopic pregnancy and then found out her father Arthur Briggs had cancer and wouldn't be able to come to their wedding. He died two months later.

The stress and strain added up to a four stone weight gain, and by her first wedding anniversary, Sue had gone from 11 stone to 15 stone 8lb.

She said: "The wedding dress wouldn't go anywhere near me."

But slimming classes helped Sue shed four stones.

She said: "I got my wedding dress out the other day and tried it on and I was absolutely thrilled."

Sue, who runs her slimming class from Edward the Confessor's Church hall, Dringhouses, approached the vicar, the Rev Martin Baldock, about performing the renewal of vows ceremony on the St Valentine's Day anniversary. Because she had a class scheduled, he suggested she take the vows in front of them.

Sue's family, including her children Michelle, 14, Leanne, 12, Lee, nine, and Billy, four, were at the ceremony which was shared by another couple, Pam and David Atkinson, of Woodthorpe, who celebrate their 26th wedding anniversary.

Updated: 09:51 Wednesday, February 14, 2001