SLOWING down is not on the agenda for keep fit teacher, Joan Neal, as she celebrates her 80th birthday with her class.

The sprightly pensioner from Stourport runs classes for mature ladies in her home town and in Kidderminster and has no intention of putting her feet up.

"There's no question about it - keep fit has kept me going strong. I have no arthritis or rheumatism, my breathing is great and I have a low pulse rate," said Mrs Neal, who took up teaching when she was 62.

Her weekly classes, at St Oswald's Church, Broadwaters and Stourport's Masonic Hall, are so popular there is a waiting list. More than 60 women, aged from their early 60s to 84, exercise with her and the majority are in their 70s.

Mrs Neal, who has been doing keep fit for more than 40 years, said her classes had a dual role of combining exercise with companionship, especially for women who had been widowed.

Her classes have also helped raise about £5,000 for charities with demonstrations and open sessions and an annual Victorian tea party over the last eight years.

Mrs Neal, of The Ridgeway, is also an avid walker and still strides out five miles a week with husband, Geoff. Together they have run the Severnside Ramblers, which they started in 1972.