EIGHT men have quit Worcester Lions Club after the first woman joined their ranks.

They resigned when widow Theresa Walker transferred from another club.

The mum-of-four, who was a Lion in her home town of Boston, Lincolnshire, before moving to the Faithful City, was surprised at the resignations but did not take them personally.

"I hadn't encountered this before in Lincolnshire and I was a Lion there for six years," said Mrs Walker, aged 57.

"But it's not me personally. I'm the first woman member, but if it wasn't me it would be another woman."

Mrs Walker, of Hindlip, wrote to David Orr, president of Worcester Lions Club, as a way of making friends in a new town where she knew no one.

Having been president of Boston Lions Club, and also the first female zone chairman - overseeing nine clubs - she did not expect to encounter any negative reaction from the Worcester club, which has been going for 34 years.

Mr Orr said Worcester Lions Club had been "delighted" to welcome Mrs Walker to the club.

"However, some members have found this decision difficult and have resigned," he said.

He said most other clubs in the region - including Malvern, Droitwich, Bromsgrove Teme Valley and Kidderminster - had women members.

"Lions International does not have a policy on women members," he said.

"It's left to individual clubs to decide what's right for them.

"The Lion's motto is 'we serve' and membership is about what you can offer, not what gender you are."

Mrs Walker arrived in Worcester in December to be with her new partner, who she met on an internet chat-line.

She was still grieving for her husband, who died of a heart attack on New Year's Day, 2002.

Mrs Walker resigned from her job as an operating theatre secretary and moved to Worcester to give the relationship a go.

She has already landed the job of press relations manager for the club and plans to devote herself to the club's fund-raising efforts and charity work.

She said there were four new members "waiting in the wings" to join up, and the club was looking for more members, male and female.