A STROKE of luck thanks to retired ballerina and former Strictly Come Dancing judge Darcey Bussell could earn a Bridgwater ballet fanatic £3,000.

Yolanda Bentham spent around 50 years trying to prove a tutu she was given as a teenager had been worn by world famous English ballerina Margot Fonteyn.

The tutu was one of three she was given when a costume hire shop in Huddersfield closed down.

As an excited 16-year-old she was ecstatic to see a tag attached to one of the tutus attributing it to Fonteyn in a production of Sleeping Beauty.

Since then all three costumes have been gathering dust in Yolanda's attic - until now.

"At first it was hanging up on a hanger in my bedroom, but after that I put the tutus in a black bin liner and stored them in my attic," said Yolanda.

"I put them in an auction in Bristol five years ago, but they were withdrawn because they were unsure of their provenance."

No-one had been able to find proof Fonteyn had ever worn the tutu in Sleeping Beauty.

"In desperation, I posted a query about it on a ballet forum," added Yolanda.

"There was a reply saying there had recently been a Darcey Bussell series on ballet showing a reel from an original black and white BBC TV production of Sleeping Beauty.

"I looked on YouTube and there it was with the Fonteyn costume. She came out of a cave wearing it."

Yolanda, who had unsuccessfully offered to donate the tutu to a number of museums including the Victoria and Albert, has now entered all three costumes in an auction in Cirencester on March 10.

The Fonteyn tutu is expected to fetch between £2,000 and £3,000, while the other two may go for a couple hundred pounds.