HEATHER Mills has given a message of hope to the mother of meningitis girl Danielle Skilbeck.

Ms Mills, recently married to former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney and an activist for the disabled, talked to Lindsay Pollard last week after being contacted by the Wharfedale and Airedale Observer.

Ms Mills, who is inundated with requests from people to talk to them, but rarely takes them up, talked at length to Lindsay and offered help in the future if ever she needed it.

Lindsay, 20, of Hollin Gate, Otley, said she had turned her mobile telephone back on after visiting Danielle in hospital to find a message from Ms Mills asking her to call her.

"We spoke for about half an hour, she was very down to earth and really nice.

"Danielle has been asking me, why me, and Heather said I should tell her its because she can make a difference to other people, she was really upbeat."

She said Ms Mills, who had her left leg amputated below the knee nine years ago, was able to put across how Danielle would be thinking.

"She asked me about how Danielle was feeling and tried to give me a perspective of how she might be feeling. Because she had been through it she knew how she might be feeling."

Four year old Danielle Skilbeck is recovering in St James's Hospital, Leeds, after being struck on July 19 by the deadly meningitis bug.

She had been vaccinated against the C strain of the bug, but contracted the more deadly B strain, for which there is no vaccine.

She has so far lost both legs below the knee and her fingertips

Lindsay added Ms Mills, gave her the telephone numbers of companies who made prosthetic limbs and a lot of useful and practical information.

"The doctors know what to do, but they don't know how children are feeling, it was nice to be able to speak to someone who knows how Danielle will be feeling.

"She told me if I ever needed anything, or any help to just phone her."

Ms Mills, a former swimwear model, had her left leg amputated below the knee after being hit by a police motorcyclist in 1993. She went on to form The Heather Mills Trust which provides limbs for victims of war.

A spokeswoman for Heather Mills confirmed that Ms Mills had had a long conversation with Lindsay.

"It was a very genuine thing. Heather had quite a long chat and was able to say a lot of positive things. She has also given Lindsay her mobile number in case she wants to get in touch."

Danielle had gone to bed with a mild headache and had woken up with a rash. The family's doctor gave her antibiotics and she was rushed to hospital where Danielle developed septicaemia, a side effect of the meninogoccal meningitis.