A SELF-CONFESSED shopaholic has been challenged to put down her purse in 2016 and not buy anything new for the next 12 months.

Kayleigh Hancox was one of the first customers through the doors on the opening day at Dolly's haberdashery and sewing school in the town centre and business owner Linsey Williams says if shopping was an Olympic sport, 'Kayleigh would win gold every time'.

As part of the Academy Way store's 'Make more spend less' ethos, Linsey has challenged the 26-year-old to make anything new by hand and in return, Kayleigh can attend any class she likes and swap shopping time for sewing time.

The duo will be blogging their progress throughout the year in the hope of making people think more about 'fast fashion'.

Linsey, who opened her sewing school in February last year, said: "I took on the same challenge in 2014 and haven't gone back to buying new clothes since.

"I went to a charity shop a couple of weeks ago where they had a half price sale on because they had so many clothes they couldn't store them.

"It's ridiculous charity shops are having to almost give clothes away and I hope this will prick peoples' conscience and make them think more about what they buy.

"Fast fashion is out of control now.

"People buy things for one night out and they have got to have more of a social conscience as no matter what you paid for it, it's going to end up being thrown away and left in a landfill somewhere."

The 41-year-old says she has never looked back after making her own clothes and will never get tired of compliments.

She added: "If you make something yourself you can adjust it to be bigger or smaller and the seams will last forever.

"I use a lot of vintage fabrics so I get a lot of comments at the bus stop.

"It's really nice and that feeling doesn't wear off all day."

Kayleigh, who confesses to spending £100 to £150 each month on new clothes, says she is looking forward to learning new skills.

The 27-year-old, from Latchford, said: "I wanted to learn as I like being unique and wanted some things that were that bit different.

"It's nice seeing what you have got at the end of it and wearing something nobody else has got.

"I think during any kind of sale this year I'm going to struggle big time not buying anything but I'm determined to have a wardrobe of new things I've made by the end of it."