A DEAF dancer is hoping to waltz her way to the top after getting inspired by Strictly Come Dancing.

Audrey Tyrrell, of Burr Close, Dovercourt, is living her dream of being a ballroom dancer after taking to the dance floor for the first time eight months ago.

The six-year-old shimmied her way to success at her first ever dance competition and is now gearing up for the glitzy dance finals in Blackpool in November.

Mum Tracey said she is over the moon with her daughter’s success - something she never thought would be possible when she was diagnosed with bilateral sensorineural hearing loss at four weeks old.

She said: “We were all devastated as we didn’t know what the future would be - we couldn’t see any positives at the time

“I didn’t know she would ever dance.

“For her to qualify is huge - what she has achieved is phenomenal.

“The fact she has an additional need, it it just makes it all the more special for us.

“I don’t know of any other deaf dancers - I’ve not seen any on the circuit in the past eight months.

“It’s so positive to any other parents of children with any disability.

“Had I have read about another little girl like Audrey when she was born I would have realised I didn’t need to be so disheartened.”

Audrey underwent a series of tests as a baby and at six weeks old she was given hearing aids.

She can hear, but in a slightly different way.

All noises in a room sound the same volume making focusing on one person talking can be very tiring.

But Audrey has an unending enthusiasm for ballroom dancing.

Tracey, a mum of four, added: “I’ve always loved Strictly Come Dancing, I had it on the television when she was four and she was asking her dad to dance with her.

“He did and she wanted him to lift her up and everything.

“Then she wanted to take classes and she particularly wanted to do ballroom dancing.

“She started going to Ballroom Business, in Harwich, and since then it’s been brilliant for her

“What she has proved to me is anything is possible.

“Her hearing is different to what we can hear.

“When there is music playing in her class, she can hear that, not the teacher.

“She has taught herself to lip read and reads body language as she can’t hear any instructions from her teacher.

“Chloe Carman, who runs Ballroom Business, is just 20 and is such a positive role model, she really has worked very hard with Audrey, so I attribute some of this to her.”

Audrey has dreams of being on Strictly Come Dancing and can’t wait to go to the home of Britain’s ballroom, Blackpool Tower Ballroom for the national finals.