TWO friends have turned a drive to lose weight into a growing business.

Briony Fawcett and Becci Byers have set up Skinnydinners, operating from Cargo, just outside Carlisle.

They prepare and cook low-calorie meals - with 1,200 and 1,500 calorie options - which customers collect at two sessions each week.

Each package comes with nine dishes, one each for breakfast, lunch and dinner for three days.

Customers choose the dishes from menus created by the company, with four options for each meal.

The idea for the business came after Mrs Fawcett was finding a weight-loss programme difficult.

Mrs Byers and her husband take fitness seriously and are regular gym-goers.

She used her knowledge of nutrition to prepare meals for her friend. With this help, Mrs Fawcett saw her dress size drop from a size 16 to a size 12.

They spent two months trialing the plans with friends and family before launching the business, which already has more than 10 customers.

Mrs Byers said: "We sat down and thought about it and realised lots of diets are very samey.

"Three weeks in and you never want to look at another chicken breast or piece of broccoli in your life. We have tried to make it as varied as possible."

She pointed to the lunch menu, which usually includes one soup and one salad along with two other choices.

Both women work full-time helping unemployed people get back to work but hope they will be able to run the business full-time in the future.

They have been friends since they were teenagers, meeting at a trampoline club in Carlisle.

Mrs Fawcett, 31, originally trained and worked in catering before changing career. "It is good to be coming back to it," she said.

Mrs Byers, 29, worked in the kitchen of The Sands Centre in Carlisle while a student but has no recent catering experience

Mrs Fawcett said: "People have said to us that they think it is is a really good idea. It was never supposed to be a business but we just decided to run with it."

For more information call 01228 674357 or visit www.skinnydinners.co.uk.