A TEENAGE girl has talked emotionally about her battle with anorexia.

At 15, Hayley Mellor should be enjoying life to the full.

But the Newsome youngster has undergone terrible traumas to combat the condition that plagued her for years.

Hayley told the Examiner: “I don’t know exactly what triggered it but I was having a tough time at school and my dad was getting married.

“I was friends with a girl who was on a diet and I started to calorie count.

“I started skipping breakfast and I would throw away my sandwiches at lunch time. I would eat half my tea and then do loads of exercise.

“One day I was with a friend at school and I hadn’t eaten anything all day. I bought a Yorkie and after two bites threw the rest away.

“I did extra exercise to make up for it and ate less at teatime.

“I have never really been confident about my body. It wasn’t sparked by seeing pictures of people in magazines it was just my own opinion of how I looked.”

When she went to Greece in August 2009 she worked out ways to cover up starving herself of food.

“When I was on holiday I would get up and do 50 lengths of the pool and then say I’d already had breakfast.

“At meal times I would have a salad and fruit.”

After her holiday her GP told her to keep a food diary and she was referred to Glen Acre House Child & Family Services in Huddersfield.

She was then seen fortnightly by specialists for five-and-a-half months before being admitted to the Priory for special treatment.