A Chester woman who is one of the country's top performing bodybuilders over 40 wants to inspire people to follow their dreams - regardless of age.

Nurse Paula Cox only started training in bodybuilding three years ago at the age of 49, and since then she has beaten off dozens of younger competitors to win countless competitions in the sport.

One of these happened only last week when Paula, now 52, was placed first in the over 40s all natural body building competition in Pudsey, West Yorkshire.

Furthermore, she has also been selected for the NPA GB team to represent Britain in Barcelona at the European Championships later this month.

Paula Cox of Chester, who has won another bodybuilding award in the over 40s category

So it's no surprise that Paula, who used to be a professional dancer, is feeling proud of all she has achieved in such a short amount of time.

She told The Chronicle: "I worked hard on my off season to build some more muscle and work on my weakness, and it paid off. I competed last weekend in the trained figure category masters over 40, and I came first - at the age of 52!

"I competed against some girls in their lower end forties and this competition was very important to me.

"I’ve trained really hard in my off season with late night gym sessions after 13 hour shifts working as a nurse which is very stressful, and gruelling night shifts followed by straight to the gym workout sessions," she added.

Paula who has always been passionate about fitness, started becoming more physically active at the gym as she got older doing five gruelling fitness classes a week plus weights, and using a personal trainer.

During one gym session two years ago, a stranger suggested Paula think about competing in body fitness/building - and after thinking about it, she decided to give it a try.

She juggled a demanding full time job at the hospital with workouts, sacrificing her social life in the process, but Paula was determined to reach her goal of competing in a body building/fitness competition by the time she was 50.

Her goal was reached at the age of 51, and since then she's been going from strength to strength - literally.

"I really want to inspire others that age is just a number," she said. "I was really thrilled and excited at what I had achieved and especially at the age of 51. If we put our mind to something, there are no barriers.”