A woman who was hoping to take part in a charity swim over the weekend has had to reschedule the attempt thanks to the weather.

Mary Grimmer from Gayton, near King's Lynn, was planning to take part in the Great North Swim on Great Windermere, Cumbria, yesterday.

Mother-of-two Mrs Grimmer, who works as a mortgage adviser, hoped to raise �400 for the Healthy Hearts Campaign, which is aiming to buy new cardiac equipment for the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

But the event was called off as torrential rain and strong winds lashed the Lake District.

'The weather was so bad, it's mainly the wind that makes it difficult,' said Mrs Grimmer, now 39, who had a congenital heart defect treated at Papworth Hospital, in Cambridge, when she was five.

'But I've been on to West Norfolk Watersports, at Leziate Lake and they've said I can do it there, so I can do the mile and still raise the money for the hospital.'

Mrs Grimmer is a governor at Ashwicken School, where teachers are also taking part in a sponsored swim for the QEH.