About the county

It's only been a week and a half since Fedwa Boutarfas was crowned Miss Wiltshire, in a ceremony at the Old bank Brasserie in Swindon, and she's already stopping traffic in London.

The wannabe Miss England was snapped on the Kings Road in London, along with other semi-finalist Misses and reigning beauty queen Georgia Horsley, for the launch of the official Miss England red and white bikini.

Miss Wiltshire - First Finalist

Fedwa, who went up against 50 Miss Wiltshire hopefuls back at the beginning of March, took the title after winning over voters in her home town of Trowbridge as well as Westbury and Warminster.

Fedwa getting moved along...

But it was the Miss England Organisers, on the hunt for a winner that "must show themselves to have more than just good looks… but charm, charisma and intelligence", who were most impressed fast-tracking the 23-year-old straight through to the finals of the competition.

"I'm the first finalist," says Fedwa, "which is really good.

"That's what I wanted to do, literally, to put Wiltshire on the map."

Born and brought up within the Trowbridge Moroccan community, one of eight children, Fedwa is an experienced Beauty Pageantist with a number of titles under her belt:

"I did Miss Photographic last year for Miss England," says Fedwa.

"I've also done Miss Afro Caribbean. Although I'm not Afro Caribbean I came third, I didn't win, but I came third in that one."

Miss Swindon

For the finals of Miss England the 5ft 6" trainee surveyor will, it's hoped, also be joined by fellow local Miss Englander Rebecca Cole. Rebecca, a 23-year-old from Stratton St Margaret, took the sash and crown for Miss Swindon whilst booking herself a place in the semi-final.

Fedwa and Miss England Georgia Horsley

In fact competition between the two Wiltshire misses was so close that judges couldn't choose between them and ended up choosing them both with Fedwa landing the Miss Wiltshire crown and Rebecca the Miss Swindon.

Now, with her sights set on representing England, at this year's Miss World Competition, Fedwa is ready to go coiffed head to coiffed head:

"You still wear the bathing suit and the evening gown," says Fedwa, "it's still very traditional in that respect. But it's not just about the beauty it's about the person as well and what they can actually add to the community.

"It's just about being a real person really."

To find out more about the Miss England competition click on the link below: