A FLURRY of girls in beautiful dresses will grace the De Vere Hotel on Sunday when they battle for the Miss Wiltshire and Miss Swindon crowns.

Nearly 100 young women aged 17 to 24 applied to take part in this year’s beauty competition and the final 13 will strut their stuff at the Shaw Ridge venue for the chance to represent their county and town.

This year the competition is being run by Miss England finalist Ela Good.

The 25-year-old was asked to take on the responsibilities after impressing the organisers of the national Miss England pageant.

She said: “I am so excited to see the girls on the night, they have all worked so hard in the run up to the competition.

“I am sure we will finish the show with two very worthy winners.

“I was Miss Swindon 2012/2013 and I was in the finals for Miss England last June.

“I took part mainly because of the opportunity to do something for charity. I raised about £4,000 in total.

“It’s a good thing for people who want to boost their modelling career, or who are thinking about a career in presenting. It’s good for people who want to feed back to their community too.”

The competition is different from traditional pageants where competitors are asked to take part in the swimwear round, which always draws the most interest.

The round was banished in 2010 by Miss England Katrina Hodge, a serving member of the British Army who replaced swimwear with the Sportswoman round, in which contestant have to prove they have the fitness as well as the beauty to take on the Miss England duties.

Ela said: “We are looking for someone who is beautiful on the inside as well as the outside, has a passion for their town and community, is friendly, charitable, sporty and has the drive to make a name for herself and the county.

“We know what it takes to become the next Miss England and the winners will have our support and guidance throughout the stages, as well as help from our sponsors including hair care by Goldsworthy’s salon, personal training by Beauty and the Beast Personal Training and makeovers by Lifestyle Health and Beauty, to ensure they get the best out of the competition.”

This year, finalists will have a chance to take part in a special Beauty and the Beast Personal Training bootcamp to hone their skills before the competition.

The bootcamp will take place on Saturday at 3pm and is led by former Miss Swindon Hannah Golding, who is currently representing England at the Face of the Globe International finals.

Members of the public are welcome to watch the finalists in their final preparations for the competition.

The winner of Miss Swindon will go through to the semi-finals in 2015 and Miss Wiltshire will get the chance to compete in this year’s Miss England finals.

For more information about the competition visit www.missengland.info/regionals/wiltshire.