MAGISTRATE Lois Rimmer celebrated becoming a pensioner by - driving a JCB!

Her eldest son, Mark, arranged for her to take to the wheel as a 60th birthday present because she'd enjoyed playing with his toy diggers when he was a child.

And Lois decided to make it a charity stunt by asking her family to give the money for her birthday gifts to a medical charity for research into Lupus, a muscle disease she used to suffer from.

Lois, of Snodworth Road, Langho, drove the digger, belonging to 20th Century Landscape, a mile across the M65 bridge to Walker Business Park, in Blackburn, where she dug a hole for a future building site.

The mother-of-three said: "I just loved every minute of it. It was really good fun and I dug a big hole all by myself with no-one else in the cab."

For the past four years, Lois has been running a group with Pauline Bilsborough, 53, of Peel Mount Close, Blackburn, to raise money for research into Lupus.

Lupus is an inflammatory condition which affects young women and it can affect a wide range of tissues and organs.

And for her next treat - "I'd love to have some flying lessons," beamed Lois.

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