The ballroom dancer, 84, who has 'never looked back'

An 84-year-old woman who makes a weekly 160 mile (257 km) round trip to dance at the famous Blackpool Tower Ballroom said her heart "lights up" every time she steps inside.

Rita Mackenzie started making the trip from Huddersfield in Yorkshire to the seaside resort in Lancashire almost 30 years ago following her divorce.

"It was my second home and now it's become my first home more or less," she said.

At first, Rita said she was nervous to drive on the motorway by herself but counts it as one of the best decisions she has made.

"I thought I'd either sink or swim...and it was the best thing I did," she said.

"I've never looked back."

Once Rita arrives at the ballroom, which dates back to 1894, she will quickly change into her ball gown and hit the dance floor.

"Dancing is my passion and I dress for what I'm doing," she said.

"So when I come here I'm always in a ball gown.

"I would never come in anything less beyond that because it's the respect for this place as well.

"There's nowhere in the whole world like here."

Rita described dancing as the "best form of exercise" and her "healing time".

"It's the energy in here it's everything about it, all the ornateness, angelicness, the angels on the ceiling, it's just so beautiful," she said.

"When I come in here every week my heart lights up. I just can't get here quick enough."

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