A MUM-OF-TWO from Broadmayne is celebrating being selected for the England taekwondo squad.

Kirsty Lardner gave the sport a try five years ago after taking her daughter Molly along to a local club for lessons and was “immediately hooked”.

The former dancer has now been snapped up to represent her country, following successful events across England, Scotland and Wales.

Lardner, aged 34, who works as an intensive care nurse at Dorset County Hospital, said: “I’ve been competing for 18 months.

“I started training five years ago, it’s all my daughter Molly’s fault.

“She started doing taekwondo about six years ago at our local club in Broadmayne.

“Molly begged me for weeks to let her have a go so I did and she loved it.

“At that time another mum went along with her two sons and after a couple of weeks Molly kept saying to me ‘why don’t you have a go with me?’ I kept putting her off but she insisted.”

Lardner, who trained as a dancer for 19 years in ballet, jazz and other techniques, gave in and surprised herself.

She said: “I’d been watching Molly for about four months and then when I had my first lesson I took to it straight away, I was hooked and absolutely loved it.

“I only gave up dancing because it got to the stage when it was all or nothing.

“It was very expensive back then to go to stage school in London and my parents would have had to have taken out a second mortgage.

“But all that dancing has boded well with my flexibility, stamina and balance.

“My instructor Master Malcolm Jones, who’s a seventh degree black belt, is incredible.”

She added: “At first it was more of a hobby, an adventure and a journey, now I love competing.

“Really it’s been something I’m able to do for myself and also to share with my daughter.

“She’s now 10 and has been to a few competitions as well.

“I’ve also got a son, Oscar, who’s nearly three.

“Being a single mum it’s sometimes difficult to spread ourselves between everybody we want to spend time with.

“Taekwondo has given me a sense of self rather than just being a mum or an intensive care nurse.”

Lardner praised her workmates at Dorset County Hospital for enabling her to swap shifts so she can compete.

She also thanked her sponsors Amanda and Charles Farran of Amanda Molyneux and Co Ltd for their support.

Lardner added: “It still hasn’t sunk in that I’m on the England squad.

“The two top seeded competitors in each category gain automatic selection in a point selection system.

“I came second after competing in events in Wales, Scotland and Devon.”