A DARWEN woman is hoping for support from fellow Darreners later this month when she will try to get on TV for a house makeover.

Marion Cimen, 45, of Blackburn Road, saw an episode of BBC1's DIY SOS programme and she decided it was just what her home needed.

She has lived alone for a number of years after her relationship ended and her house is in desperate need of refurbishment.

She said: "I wrote last September and never thought they would contact me. Then they telephoned.

"On the programme they usually fix a problem where a husband has started a DIY job and left a big gaping hole. In my case it's different because there's no actual hole so I just told them to pick a room because it was all a mess.

"They apparently had thousands of letters and they chose mine. I was interviewed on the telephone, then they sent a researcher over. They had to work out whether they could do the work in a day for the programme.

"I had to wait for a decision and then they filmed me and the house. They were here for five hours but that has now been edited down to a 90 second appeal asking for people to vote for me.

"On Thursday, February 26, there will be a main feature on the programme and then there will be three appeals. The one with the most votes will feature on the next week's programme getting work done on their house so I hope the people of Darwen will get behind me on this one to get a local person on TV.

"If I'm chosen they will transform my bathroom. At the moment the wind is blowing through the window. I hope they will do a good job and I can finally put the past behind me and look forward to the future."

If Marion is chosen, she will find out on the Saturday and the production crew will be at her house by 7am on the Sunday.