WHEN Teresa Stafford's doctor suggested she moved south to help her get rid of her recurring bronchitis, he was thinking of a nice cottage in Devon.

So imagine his surprise when Teresa, along with husband Geoff, upped sticks from their Victoria Road, Fulwood, home and moved ... to a Mediterranean villa on the Costa Blanca!

But while her health may have improved since then, one thing hasn't changed - her passion for bowls.

Despite living more than 1,000 miles away from her beloved crown green bowls circuit, Teresa has carried on playing the sport - albeit the flat green version of the game - becoming Spain's ladies champion four times.

Now she is planning to travel even further south, to Australia, to take on the world's best bowls players in an international tournament.

Husband Geoff said of his former British Telecom worker wife: "We are incredibly proud of what she has achieved.

"We both played crown green bowls in Britain and when we decided to move, we wanted to carry on playing. There is a full league set up here, made up mainly of North European ex-pats who know the game, so the competition is quite stiff.

"Teresa has done incredibly well to have been crowned womens' champion four times and to be picked from all the players across the country to be part of the team going to Australia is great."

The international event will be held in Melbourne in March, with two of the five strong group coming from Teresa's local team, EL CID.

Both Geoff and Teresa were well-known on Preston's bowling circuit before they went continental in 1991.

Geoff added: "We have to play the flat green version of bowls out here, but we don't mind, because at least we don't get rained on as much!"

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