Building surveyor Sophie Lydia Smith has been crowned Miss Cheltenham and will now compete in this summer’s Miss England pageant.

Lydia Smith works for Stroud District Council after completing a two-year course in construction and civil engineering.

She told the Gloucestershire Echo: “I work in building conservation and construction so I don’t always look glamorous at work.

“This was my chance to look glamorous.”

Her mother Sonia added: “I think she can inspire many other young women and that you don’t have to be a man to work in her industry.”