And the 79-year-old grandmother, of Hodgson Avenue, Werrington, Peterborough, says she wouldn't give up teaching her Golden Girls, Eye Lites or Sweetbriars groups for all the world.

It all started when Mrs Harding took up ballet and tap classes as a child, and realised she liked to move and keep active.

However, it wasn't until she took up a keep-fit class at Walton School 42 years ago that she realised she was a natural at heart-pumping fitness regimes.

Her class teacher recommended she take up her own classes within a couple of years – and Mrs Harding hasn't looked back since.

She teaches almost 100 women in their 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s and even one 91-year-old at three keep fit classes in Eye, at Westgate Church, in the city centre, and at the sheltered housing complex in Hodgson Avenue.

Mrs Harding said: "Over the years, I have moved with the ages and now teach a much older generation but all my ladies have come with me, and four or five have been with me almost all the time.

"We have a wonderful time and we laugh an awful lot.

"It's not just about keeping fit, I like to make my classes fun and some of my ladies are on their own and just come along for the social side, to make friends and have a chat."

As well as keep fit classes, Mrs Harding also organises outings twice a year and holds demonstrations at over-60s clubs across the city.

Mrs Harding, who switched her job of more than 10 years as receptionist at the Peterborough Citizen and Advertiser newspaper to take on the classes, added: "I keep saying I am going to retire, but the ladies won't let me."