A YORK woman who lost her mother and husband within months of each other has started her own business.

Clare Woodall, 41, from Bishopthorpe, is a former police dog handler who was working as an accounts manager when her life was changed earlier this year.

Clare's mother Beryl died from cancer in February, and she took up dog photography as a hobby to help herself through the grief, but decided to turn her hobby into a new career after losing her husband David in April.

Electrical engineer David, 40, was riding his white Ducati 900M on the B1224 towards Rufforth on Easter Monday, April 6, when he was involved in a crash with two other vehicles at about 1pm. He died at the scene from a head injury.

Clare said: "My life changed. It made me believe life's too short, and we have to do what we enjoy now, so I quit my job as an account manager with a York firm, and set up my own business.

"It's scary, just dropping everything and starting your own business. I have always worked since leaving school, but always for someone else. It's given me something to focus on, definitely. It's something I had always wanted to do, to work with dogs. I used to be a police dog handler and had dogs all my life, and I always wanted to get back into working with them again, but to be able to give up my job and do that full time it's amazing opportunity for me and trying to turn all the negatives into positives."

Clare, who has two dogs of her own, now runs a doggy day care from a unit in Acaster Malbis, and said she hopes her family would be proud of her.

She said: "I've done a lot of work to get it up and running. I do other photography as well, but pets are my favourite. People say I can always get their personalities out in a picture, because they they each have their own personalities.

"I lost my dad to cancer two years ago, but I think my sister is very proud of me. It's very easy to sit and feel sorry for yourself but life has to go on and it's something I love. Hopefully they'll all be proud of me."