An expert rag rug maker from Ledbury was whisked off by limousine to Shepperton Studios near London as a technical advisor for a saucy new movie.

Ann Davies, of Belle Orchard, the leader of the Ledbury Raggers group, was asked to help with the making of Calendar Girls.

The new Walt Disney film, due out this autumn, tells how the Rylstone and District WI group stripped off for a calendar and raised over £330,000 for charity.

Famously, the middle-aged group wore "nothing but pearl necklaces, hats or strategically placed floral displays".

The stars playing the 45- to 60-year-old women include Helen Mirren, Julie Walters, Geraldine James, Celia Imrie and Annette Crosbie.

Mrs Davies got to meet them all, in the flesh, on a day she will never forget.

She said: "It was something that doesn't usually happen to someone from Ledbury."

Mrs Davies was chosen as a technical advisor because a film scene concerns a village hall talk about rag rugs.

She herself has written an article on rag rugs for the WI magazine, Home and Country.

Mrs Davies, who was paid £100 plus expenses, said: "There was a mock-up of a typical village hall, and it looked so real."

The craftswoman will not appear in the film, but her rugs will have their moment on the silver screen. Mrs Davies said: "It looks good on the CV."

Of the stars she met, she was particularly impressed by Julie Walters, of Educating Rita fame.

She said: "She was so charming and gracious and even more attractive in real life."

Annette Crosbie, known as the long-suffering wife of Victor Meldrew in One Foot in the Grave, also received special praise as "an absolute darling".