THE BEN Girl of the Year will be reaching new heights of success when she takes part in a sponsored abseil.

Joanne Walker will be abseiling from the top of the BEN offices in Churchgate to raise cash for Cancer Research UK.

The 29-year-old special needs teacher has been petrified of heights since she was a youngster but she is determined to overcome her phobia -- and even become an abseil instructor.

Joanne, of Astley Bridge, completed an abseil of a rockface at Anglezarke last summer but admits she was a jibbering wreck when she reached the ground.

She said: "I was nearly crying all the way down and when I see people standing on the edge it makes me feel physically sick.

"My family all think I'm mad for putting myself through it again."

Joanne will be accompanied on her abseil by a group of her pals, including expert Dave Firth who runs an outdoors adventure company, Adventure 21.

Anyone else who would like to join in the abseil later this year should write to Joanne Walker, c/o Bolton Evening News, Newspaper House, Churchgate, Bolton, BL1 1DE.