A SLIMMING guru has told how she is having to “spread herself thin” after the start of a new year led to a flood of people signing up for classes in a bid to lose weight.

Ashleigh Loudon, who runs a cluster of Slimming World groups across Clydebank, said she has been “inundated” with new clients as people look to use January as a starting point in their bid to get in shape.

Ashleigh, district manager for Central Scotland, said: “We have welcomed more than 700 new members across groups in Clydebank and the surrounding areas and we are still getting phone calls to say they saw our local groups in The Post.

“This means we can help lots more people in our area achieve their weight loss goals and dreams whilst never going hungry.”

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The upturn in the number of local people who are keen to slim down comes at a time when the NHS is promoting the health benefits that can be gained by losing weight.

Health chiefs have stressed that people who are overweight have a higher risk of high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke and type-2 diabetes.