Charlotte Buckley, 22, from Lancaster, weighed just 5st 9lb in March last year, after months of strict dieting before and after her marriage to fiancee Dan Broadley, in June 2006.

She was finally persuaded by her parents to seek help and spent six months recovering in the eating disorder unit at Cheadle Royal Hospital, Stockport.

Unfortunately, after this, her marriage was over and the couple are now filing for divorce.

Charlotte, whose story was recently featured in The Daily Mail newspaper, said: "I knew I was pushing myself, but as each pound slid off it became like a drug, with compliments on my wedding day being the final reward.

"The fact that I was marrying the man of my dreams paled in comparison to the joy I felt as a tiny size eight."

Charlotte bought a wedding dress two sizes too small to encourage herself to diet for the big day.

She limited herself to 500 calories a day, as losing the weight became an obsession.

By her wedding day her hip bones and rib cage jutted out and her dress was now too big and had to be pinned into place.

She visited pro-anorexia websites, where women encourage each other to starve, exchange diet tips, and post pictures of skinny celebrities.

After treatment in late 2007 Charlotte weighed 8-stone and said she was "truly happy with the way I look".

Charlotte was said to be one of a growing number of girls who develop what has been named 'brideorexia' – an obsessive desire to lose weight for their wedding day.

A spokesperson for an eating disorder charity said: "'Brideorexia' is a worrying trend among young women.

"We all know about the pressures to look beautiful and some will push themselves to extremes to wear that wedding dress."