Pageant beauties hoping to be crowned Miss England basked in the glorious Westcountry sunshine when they took part in a swimwear photo call on the beach and on board a luxury yacht.
Twelve bikini-clad Misses from Newcastle to Wiltshire, London to Manchester, Oxfordshire and South Yorkshire lounged on the top deck of the luxury yacht 777 in Torquay marina in front of a media scrum. The "beach beauty" photo shoot was part of the Miss England pageant contest which is coming to the resort later this month.
Linda Hill, from the Hospitality Association, said: "It's magnificent for Torbay. We have all the TVs and media here. The sun is shining. It's the perfect advert for the English Riviera. If it is as successful as I think it will be, then I have great hope to organise Miss World here in the Bay. There is no reason why it couldn't be done."
Charlotte Holmes, who was born in Torpoint, South East Cornwall, before winning Miss Devon and Plymouth and eventually Miss England 2012, joined her would-be successors for the beachwear photo shoot.
She said: "This is home for me. I'm from Devon and I really wanted to bring Miss England down here and show off what we have to offer and the delights of Torbay.
"With this kind of weather, it's just perfect."
The boat deck photocall was followed by another photo shoot on Torre Abbey Sands, with many visitors to Torquay pausing to have a good look at the parade of scantily clad beauties.
Mike Smith, manager of the Torquay Marina, said: "This is great for the Bay. Anything that attracts more people to the area can only be good for business. I think it will put Torquay on the map."
Miss England organisers said the two shoots were part of the overall competition with the winner going through to the top 15 finalists at the Miss England Finals at the Torbay Riviera International Conference Centre on June 15 and 16. The pageant winner will be entered in the Miss World 2013 competition in Indonesia later this year.
