A blind pensioner from Weston-super-Mare has become what is believed to be the oldest person in Britain to be given a first guide dog.

Marion Race, 90, started to lose her sight three years ago, but has just been given Hannah the labrador by the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association.

She told the BBC: "I was stuck in the flat, just going out to the bread shop. Now I go out twice a day."

There are also plans to feature Hannah, trained in Bristol, in the Association's 2004 Guide Dog national calendar.

She is one of 5,000 working guide dogs for the blind in the UK.

Each takes up to eight months to train.