THE organiser of the Miss Worc-estershire competition is still planning to open the beauty contest up to every girl - unless you can convince him otherwise.

This year's winner Rachael Davies caused a furore because she came from Stoke-on-Trent and beat local girls to the title.

Organiser Paul de Silva is planning another contest with the same rules again for next year but he's waiting to see if Worcester News readers can persuade him to change his mind.

"There's nothing to stop me restricting it to entrants from the county if I want to," he said.

"You only have to stand in Worcester city centre for a while to see there are enough beautiful girls aged 17 to 24 here. That's without counting Malvern, Bromsgrove, Evesham and all the other county towns.

"Girls from the county can enter in other areas if they want to and I still think Miss Worcestershire should be open to girls from outside. If the readers of the Worcester News feel differently I'm prepared to listen."

Mr de Silva, who runs a model and promotions agency said he felt the beauty contest scene had undergone a revival and girls now felt it was fine to enter.

"I think it all went a bit too politically correct a few years ago," he said. "It's changed now.

"It's not all wolf-whistling guys and girls in swimsuits like a holiday camp contest. Miss England was a proper event with all kinds of different categories."

Laura Collins, a 21-year-old student from Malvern, who was runner-up to Rachael Davies this year, said she hoped it would be restricted to Worcestershire girls if it kept the same title.

"I didn't mind competing against girls from outside the area but I think if the contest is to be called Miss Worcestershire then it should definitely be for girls from the county," she said.