Kim Rayner has won the title of Miss Basingstoke

TEENAGER Kim Rayner is set to take the name of Basingstoke into a national beauty contest battle after being crowned in an inaugural local event.

Six would-be beauty queens competed for the crown of Miss Basingstoke - and it was 19-year-old Miss Rayner who got the judges' vote in the contest, held at the Basingstoke Country Hotel, Nately Scures.

Miss Rayner, who speaks three languages and used singing as her talent at the contest, will now go forward to the Miss England semi-finals in June - and she will be hoping to take the name of Basingstoke on to greater glory.

The striking young blonde, from Tichborne Down, impressed the judges with her knowledge of the Basingstoke area, proving that she had done her homework.

Kayleigh Halloway, 19, who organised and directed the contest, said: "She knew so much about the town and had really researched it.

"She said that instead of Basingstoke being a market town, she thinks it should be seen as an historic town."

Miss Halloway, of Buckskin Lane, Buckskin, Basingstoke, had the idea of running the local competition after she had to apply for Miss Reading in 2007 because there was no other local route to Miss England.

She said: "It's been stressful, but really good fun. The girls are really dedicated - they all deserved to go through."

Speaking about the contest - which involved the contestants answering local questions and showing off a skill or talent - Miss Halloway said that it supported the "say no to size zero" campaign and judges were looking more at the entrants' presentation, face and figure in terms of how healthy they looked.

The top four were Miss Rayner, Richu Amin, 20, of Whitestones, Hatch Warren, Basingstoke, Laura Kerwood, 22, from Headley, and 19-year-old Amy Bunston, from Warwick Road, Winklebury, Basingstoke.

They have all won modelling contracts with True Model Media, based in West Sussex.

Racheal and James Baughan, from True Model Media, were on the panel of five judges, along with Kestrel FM DJ Philip Hatto, Steph Bruce, from Wella in Basingstoke, and Kat Hodge, Miss Tunbridge Wells.

Despite a number of Miss Basingstoke contestants dropping out as the competition drew nearer, Miss Halloway is not disheartened and plans to organise another contest next year.

She said: "I think a lot of the time girls are really scared of the talent section. For Miss England, they are expected to perform a talent for three minutes, but I cut it down to one-and-a-half minutes.

"People also think that they have to be supermodel material, but they don't."

Miss Halloway added that over the next year Miss Rayner, aka Miss Basingstoke, will be making some public appearances in the town, possibly at Basingstoke sports events, and she will crown the next Miss Basingstoke in a year's time.

11:13am Saturday 17th May 2008

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