Slimmer Jane Narborough halved her weight by sniffing calorie-ridden food instead of eating it.

Friends have nicknamed her Bexhill's incredible shrinking woman after the unusual policy paid off.

Jane weighed 22 stone before starting her diet. Her dress size has now dropped from a staggering 32 to 12 and she is no longer confined to the larger size sections of stores.

Jane has shrunk so much that she and two of her slim friends can now fit into one of her old dresses.

Jane, 37, said: "I'm a shadow of my former self but this has been a life-changing diet, not just a quick fix."

The deputy home manager said she could not have completed her diet without help from her colleagues at the Ardath Care Home in Hastings Road, Bexhill, run by the charity Sussex Housing and Care.

Jane said: "When I felt hungry I just sniffed the food.

"I was allowed to by the staff and residents one lady allowed me to sniff apricot crumbles on a regular basis, which are a real favourite of mine.

"And if I could smell them, I didn't have to eat them."

Jane, who lives at the care home, said she used to gulp a two-litre bottle of fizzy drink each day, as well as snacking on sweets and crisps.

Nurse uniform manufacturers could not find the deputy manager a uniform to fit and she was forced to squeeze into a size 30.

Then she started a calorie-controlled, low-fat diet she made up herself after becoming disillusioned with diet books and clubs.

She said: "I went ahead with my own diet by simply reading the labels on all my food and drink to count the calories and cut out sugar."

Delighted with her new-found curves, Jane says she is now a "clothesaholic".

She said: "For years I had to shop in big girls' stores where the clothes were very expensive.

"I never looked in High Street shop windows, partly because I didn't want to see my reflection and partly because I knew they would not stock my size."

Jane, who often stayed in during her time off, says she now has lots more energy and goes on regular nights out with the girls.