It's hard to imagine a glamorous PR woman running a campsite in the Welsh valleys but that's precisely what Sarah Heyworth is planning to do.

Sarah, who started Brighton-based Heyworth PR in 1994, has found a profitable niche promoting artistic and cultural events across the South-East.

But she is closing the business next month for a life in the hills.

She said her decision to swap cocktails and canapes for wellies, Calor gas cylinders and guy ropes has raised a few eyebrows among colleagues.

She said: "People have been incredulous but I just want to get started.

"People think I am retiring but it's not like that at all. I'll have to work very hard to make this work.

"I come from the Lake District so I have always loved the great outdoors, although I suspect that's a part of me that a lot of people have never seen."

Sarah, 36, is planning to run a franchise through the Camping and Caravanning Club, ideally in Wales, and has already passed the organisation's strict vetting procedure.

She insists she is not jumping on the camping bandwagon.

She said: "I know camping is very fashionable at the moment but I was there in the dark days! Seriously, it has been a big part of my life for a long time. I just love it.

"It used to be a lower-middle class or working class activity but the range of people you see now is amazing. You get Porsches and Mercedes in the fields.

"Terrorism and concerns about the impact of foreign travel on the environment are making more and more people holiday in the UK and consider camping."

Heyworth PR's clients include Brighton Dome and Festival, Arts Council England, the Royal Institute of British Architects and the Folkestone Literary Festival.

Its longest-standing relationship was with the University of Brighton, helping to turn its annual graduate show into a major event which now attracts 5,000 visitors.

Another of the company's achievements was working on the bid to secure an airwaves contract for Brighton-based Surf 107 - now Juice 107.2FM - in 1998.

Sarah, who said there were only two or three PR agencies in Brighton when she started in business 12 years ago, says she will miss working in the city.

She said: "Brighton is very lucky to have an extraordinary array of people who can come up with very creative ideas. The city is such a great stage for them.

"From a marketing point of view, the backdrop of the sea and the extraordinary buildings is a real gift to work with and that has made working here so special."

Friend and counterpart Jo Brooks, who runs Brighton-based JBPR, said Sarah's departure would leave a gaping hole in the city's public relations scene.

She said: "She is a genuine and lovely person who has done really well to capture a part of the market and retain clients as the competition has increased.

"Personally I think her new life sounds wonderful. I am a bit jealous."