A MODEL has made the final of a catwalk competition thanks to 6,000 votes from the people of Blackburn.

Donna Fielding, 19, from Livesey Branch Road, Mill Hill, got the most votes of any entrant in the national competition, and is through to the finals in London.

The competition, run by UK-based modelling agency Divinity Models, was open to girls over 13 and did not discriminate against age, size, nationality, or height.

Entrants were voted for by text message and Donna launched a big poster campaign in Blackburn and surrounding areas to drum up support.

She had already beaten 15,000 others at that stage to make the north's top 100, and now she is down to the last 35 in the country.

Donna thought her dreams of modelling professionally were over when she had a son, Josh, now two.

She said: "Celebrity guests and judges will be present and the eventual winner will be crowned the face of Divinity Model Management and will appear on the cover of an industry magazine.