THE woman who taught Sporty Spice to dance is retiring.

Pupils and staff at the Winburn School of Dancing have bid a fond farewell to its popular owner, Ann Burns when she retired after 46 successful years.

Ann (62) told the Star: "I had always said that the end of the century was as good a time as any to leave and lately I have been having problems with my knees so I haven't been as active as in the past.

"Now I am looking forward to putting my feet up and enjoying things I never had the time to do before, like gardening and family holidays."

Ann, from Sinclair Avenue, Prescot, first set up the school in 1953 aged just 16. When she married, she christened it the Winburn School of Dancing - an amalgamation of her maiden name, Winrow, and her married name, Burns. The school doesn't have a home base but visits halls in Rainford, Eccleston and Prescot and caters for all budding dancers aged from three upwards. Famous past pupils include Mel C of the Spice Girls and Ann's own daughter Gill, who is a qualified dance instructor herself and has also captained the England Womens Rugby Union team for the last five years.

Every year all the pupils are entered for the Allied Dancing Association exams and medal tests with the school regularly achieving a 100 per cent pass rate. The school has also won the Allied Dancing Association Medal Shield outright every year since 1969, while its annual end-of-term shows at the Theatre Royal in St Helens are always packed out.

Over the years Ann has also raised thousands of pounds for charities, including over £40,500 for Whiston Hospital, and she was invited to attend a Royal Garden Party at Buckingham Palace in 1995 in recognition of her efforts.

The school will now be run by former pupils Christine Gorman (Rainford); Fiona Hunter (Eccleston) and Elaine Charters and Lesley Currie (Prescot). To mark Ann's retirement staff and students held a collection and presented her with a commemorative bench and a plaque to mark her amazing achievements.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.