As an 18-year-old, Lesley Hart passed out when she first gave blood.

The same happened on the next five occasions but it did not stop her becoming a dedicated donor ... and 42 years on she gave her 75th donation.

She said: “It was the 1970s and I was working at [plastic bag makers] WR Grace and they did it across the road in what was the social club.

“They just asked if we’d want to go and I went with some of the others from the office.

“In those days you had separate beds and there were lots more nurses. You sit in a chair now.”

Ms Hart, of The Crescent, Eaton Socon, who turned 60 in July, went on to work as a typist for the MoD at RAF Brampton and continued to attend blood donor sessions there. You never feel a thing,” she said.

“A lot of women stop giving blood when they have children but I’ve never had any so just kept going.”

Ms Hart, whose mother Doris was also a ­committed donor, received an emerald award from the NHS to mark her 75th donation, which was made at the Berkley Street Methodist Church, Eynesbury, just before Christmas.

INFORMATION: Anyone aged between 17-65, weighing more than 50kg (7st 12lbs) and in general good health could become a blood donor. There is no upper age limit for donors who have donated in the last two years. For more details or to book an appointment, call 0300 123 2323 or visit www.blood.co.uk.