A SHOP worker is to swap the clothes rails for a catwalk in a bid to become Miss Great Britain.

By day Katie Walsh, 19, works as a retail advisor for clothes store Next at its Townsmoor branch, Blackburn.

But the former Haslingden High School pupil would ultimately love to carve out a full-time career as a model.

And the teenager, who lives in Helmshore, hopes to take a step closer to achieving her dream by entering the Manchester heat of Miss Great Britain at Tiger Tiger on January 12.

She said: "I have entered the Miss Great Britain heat in Manchester this week and will have to take part in three rounds. In the first I will model swimwear, in the second evening wear and finally there's a question round.

"I would love a career in modelling either on the cat walk or in a lads' mag."

And Katie is no stranger to the camera.

She has previously modelled with other beauties and players from Rawtenstall-based Madison Park FC for the club's 2006 calendar. And she recently appeared in lads' magazine Zoo. She was pictured with other girls wearing only their underwear in the magazine's weekly spotlight on readers' other halves.

Her 19-year-old boyfriend Anthony Kinder, a Blackburn Hawks hockey player, took the saucy snaps and got a £200 publication prize after asking her to pucker up for the camera.

And the ambitious girl said her family were fully supporting her quest to become the next queen of the catwalk.

She said: "I love everything about modelling, the travelling, the photoshoots and the excitement you get from doing it. My family all support me. I don't get nervous as I'm doing something I enjoy. My boyfriend doesn't mind at all in fact he loves it."

l Heats for Miss Great Britain are being held across the UK until February. Organisers will then take to the task of picking a shortlist of 50 beauties for the final at London's Grosvenor House Hotel on February 25.