Darlington Tomboy in a potato sack is voted Miss Durham

Lauren Abel describes herself as a football-loving tomboy but decided to enter the beauty pageant after  partner Dale Elgey said she would have no chance of winning.

On Saturday night Ms Abel from Darlington was named the new Miss Durham at Sedgefield Racecourse after wowing judges with her creativity.

The 22-year-old said: “I entered as a bit of a joke because I am not a girly girl at all.

“My boyfriend, who has previously said I must be a boy trapped in a girl’s body was joking around and said I wouldn’t win it, so I decided to give it a go just to prove him wrong.”

This year’s competition attracted 210 entries with 14 girls making it through to the final.

The first round saw the finalists tell the judges and 180-strong audience how much money they have raised for ABF The Soldier’s Charity.

The finalists raised a £8,000 in the run up to the competition with Ms Abel telling the judges she scraped together £565 through bucket collections and her barber mother, Anne McFadyen, donating 50p from every hair cut she gave at Top Cutz in Darlington.

In the second round the entrants had to wear a costume that best described their personality, with Ms Abel taking to the stage in a mixture of clothing.

She said: “It did look a bit odd but once I explained it I think it went down well.”

In the final round the finalists had to model an outfit of their creation made from recycled material that would be suitable for a day at the races.

Ms Abel, a dance student, fashioned a dress out of an old hessian potato sack with supermarket carrier bags.

She said: “It was a great night, I felt pretty relaxed because I had never done anything like it before so had no expectations.

“I wanted to be in the top 10, I cannot believe I have won.”

She will now represent County Durham at the Miss England finals in three weeks.

Jessica Plummer, 22, of Spennymoor, finished second and Rebecca Kerr, 24, of Marton, Middlesbrough, third.