A BURNLEY teacher was fighting for her life today after collapsing while playing tennis.

Vicki Taylor, 45, of Wellfield Drive, a languages teacher at Towneley High School, was taken by ambulance to the Royal Blackburn Hospital on Sunday after collapsing during a game on the tennis courts at Clitheroe Cricket Club.

A spokesman for the East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust said Mrs Taylor, a member of Burnley Lawn Tennis Club, was being cared for on the Intensive Care Unit at the hospital.

The incident happened shortly before 8pm at the club on Chatburn Road.

It is not yet known what caused her collapse.

A spokesman for Burnley Lawn Tennis Club, where Vicki has been a member for more than 24 years, said: "Vicki collapsed suddenly during a game and was given first- aid before the ambulance arrived.

"It all happened so suddenly and everybody is desperately shocked by what has happened. She is critically ill.

"She has been a member of the club for a long time and has played tennis for Lancashire and is very well-known and liked."

A spokesman for Lancashire Ambulance said: "We were called at 7.53pm on Sunday to an incident at the tennis courts at Clitheroe Cricket Club after a lady collapsed.

"She was taken by ambulance to the Royal Blackburn Hospital."

Mrs Taylor, formerly of Hapton, also coaches tennis at the school. She is married to Iain.

Eight years ago Mrs Taylor, then Vicki Judge, featured in the Lancashire Telegraph after giving birth to a baby girl just four days after winning a tennis tournament.

She won the mixed doubles trophy with playing partner Iain while heavily pregnant with daughter Sarah-Jane.