A SELF-confessed "booze monster" has gone teetotal in order to help children in a Ribble Valley village.

Jacqui Ashton, 43, of Padiham Road, Sabden, is well-known in the village's White Hart pub where she can be regularly seen knocking back her favourite tipple.

But when Jacqui told friends she was jumping on the wagon and quitting the booze, they encouraged her take it a step further and raise money for a local scheme in the process.

Now, halfway through her 14-week stint off the booze, the mother-of-two has raised over £1,200 through sponsorship for the Sabden Play Park Trust, which aims to renovate the village's play area.

Jacqui said she had been drinking around four bottles of white wine, six pints of cider and approximately 16 Jack Daniels and cokes every week which amounts to 52 units of alcohol.

The recommended intake for a woman is less than 14 units a week.

Jacqui said: "I'm a booze monster really and for somebody who likes a glass of wine or two, I'm just about managing to get used to it.

"It's very hard. You don't realise until you stop how hard it is because it's so easy to have a glass or two when you get home and put the tea on.

"I started on September 11 and finish on December 22 so I'm aiming for 14 weeks.

"We want to get this park finished and if I can do this for a long period of time I might get more money.

"The White Hart said since I've stopped drinking the takings have gone down a bit!

"I've been involved with the Play Park Trust from the beginning and we've raised £6,000 over the last two years and we need another £40,000 to finish the park off."

Jacqui said there was a lack of after-school activities in Sabden.

She added: "Every child deserves the right to have recreational facilities.

"Because of the equipment we have got so far we have noticed an increase in its use and an improvement in the attitude of those using the park."

And while Jacqui's efforts will provide a boost to funds, they will also provide a boost to her health.

Lancashire Telegraph's health expert Dr Tom Smith said: "It's wonderful that she's gone teetotal.

"It will be beneficial to her health and organs and if she could stick to less than 14 units when she stops this that would be good.

"If she goes back to her previous levels she could damage her liver and if she continued she certainly could not see 60 and even possibly 50.

"Her drinking levels are very bad.

"We know now that if a woman is drinking above 14 units a week that's the level at which liver and brain damage start to occur