An Ealing grandmother has become the oldest woman to sail solo around the world.

Jeanne Socrates, 68, spent 14 months travelling 25,000 miles in her 38ft yacht, raising money for Marie Curie cancer charity.

The retired maths teacher completed the challenge last week in memory of her husband George who died of cancer in 2003.

Jeanne had previously tried in 2008 but crashed her boat just 12 miles from the finish.

She had endured 70-knot winds and waves that snapped her new boat's boom off Argentina.

Jeanne described her joy a day before returning to her starting point in Cape Town, South Africa.

She wrote: "I celebrated my way - at one with the ocean."

A Marie Curie spokeswoman said: "Jeanne is inspirational."