A fitness coach from north Devon has successfully defended her title in a British weightlifting competition.

Lottie Miles, from Bideford, won gold in the women’s over-35s 81kg category at the British Masters Weightlifting Championships in the Welsh city of Bangor on Sunday.

Miles, who said she only started weightlifting five years ago during the Covid-19 lockdown, picked up her first British Masters gold two years ago in Glasgow.

She said she had a poor night’s sleep before the competition due to “storms and wind” and had to “pull it out the bag a little bit” but was “really happy” with the win.

Because of the lack of sleep she chose “relatively safe weights” but still managed to top her category with lifts of 70k in the snatch and 90k in the clean and jerk.

The British Masters is a senior weightlifting contest held every two years.