Casualty star Rebecca Wheatley has shed 12 stones after admitting she was "ashamed" at how she looked in her wedding photographs.

The 44-year-old actress has been named Slimming World's Woman of the Year after losing more than half her weight through a healthy diet and fitness training regime.

Ms Wheatley - who played the larger-than-life receptionist Amy Howard on BBC soap - slimmed down from a size 32 to a 12 over two years and is now a healthy a healthy 12st 5lbs.

Previously 24st 6.5lbs, she confessed that seeing her wedding pictures in 2005 was "devastating".
"Despite all my bravado I was ashamed I'd let myself get so big," she said.

"I hope that I'll be able to inspire anyone struggling with their weight to see that there is a healthy way to lose the flab without starving yourself," she added.

British Lion Eggs recently recommended that anyone looking to lose weight should eat eggs for breakfast because they keep you full for longer, therefore aiding weight loss.