Another town, another tiara

The sashes, the swimsuits, the cash prizes... for some, the lure of the beauty pageant is simply irresistible. On the eve of this year's Miss England, Charlotte Cripps meets the women who would be queens

No one knows who Miss England is any more," says Angie Beasley, organiser of this year's contest, which takes place in Liverpool on Thursday. But Beasley – a former beauty queen herself – says such pageants have changed since the dark days of feminist flour-bomb attacks and banishment from national TV. She's trying to kickstart a revival by rebranding Miss England as "a choreographed fashion show with contestants modelling Reebok". There won't be a single bikini in the place. How far she will succeed remains to be seen, but, regardless of her efforts, it appears that a new generation of beauty queens have already woken up to the old-school, addictive thrill of sashes and tiaras.

One such serial contestant is Alex Bell, 23, who was placed third in the Miss England competition last year. When she's not on the beauty circuit, Bell runs a nail and tanning salon called Fake It in Bromborough, near Liverpool, near the house where she lives with her mother, Pat.

In search of an explanation for the peculiar lure of the pageant, I met Alex in a front room filled with baubles attesting to her triumphs: Miss Chester 96, Miss Wrexham 96, Miss Woolton 95, Miss Europe England 99, Miss Winsford shopping centre 99 (£1,000 cash prize), Miss Runcorn 96, Miss Essex 2000, Miss Southport Sightseers 93...

Alex, bubbly, blonde and tanned, says she has just returned from "a weekend clubbing in Ibiza with the boyfriend". "When she is away it's very dull here," says her mother, who is dangling a beige, chamois leather tasselled bikini in front of me while plying us with honey buns from the local bakery. "I make all her clothes. She wore this one to Miss Hawaiian Tropic in Las Vegas last November."

Alex has been entering beauty contests since she first won Miss Walton Hospital at 13. "I was the type of child who would say, 'Let me get lost in Harrods so I can hear my name on the tannoy'," she says, "but pageants are just not fashionable anymore."

"Beauty pageants have died out," interrupts her mother. "The bra-bashers have won." This does not seem to have deterred her daughter, though. "It gets to a point where I can't stop doing them," says Alex. "It's like a really bad habit you can't kick. Every time I get back from a contest, I say that's it. Often they charge a £250 entrance fee, and I come away thinking this is pointless, but whatever happens, I get itchy feet. Suddenly I get this urge to dress up. The thrill is in winning, especially prize money."

Nothing beats that tiara-winning moment. "I've come home and sat here in a tiara while my mum makes my breakfast," she laughs. "I drove home from Miss Essex with a trophy on the dashboard."

Katie Craven, 20, is a relative newcomer on the circuit. But after winning Miss Nottingham last September, she couldn't help but enter Model of the Universe (in Turkey), Miss Great Britain, Miss Europe (in Poland) and now she is off for her first fitting for a dress to wear at Miss England. "I'm after white – I want to make sure I stand out," she says.

It all started when she read about the Miss Nottingham contest in the local newspaper. "It said 'Wear club wear', which I thought was strange because I'm used to watching them in ball gowns. But who wouldn't want that title and £4,000 in gifts? It's every girl's dream," she says excitedly. "Think of this: a watercolour portrait of yourself worth £2,000; a silk ball gown; a free trip to Model of the Universe in Turkey... things like clothes and make-up – and the attention!"

At Miss Nottingham, the organisers provided outfits for the swimwear section. She was given a bikini with handkerchief bra. "I'm not very confident with my body. Luckily another girl with a bigger bust asked me if I'd swap. I wore a little sarong and bra top with a matching handbag. It was ever so cute," she says. "All the time I'm thinking, 'My thighs are wobbling, look at my cellulite', but all the girls think like this and make it 10 times worse than it really is."

When she was announced as the winner she had her coat on, ready to leave. "They called my name four times," she says. "I was chucked on stage – all my family screaming and the crowd cheering. Everyone was looking at me. It was such a buzz."

Jane Earl, 16, is the youngest contestant for Miss England, and winning pageants is all she has ever known – she has been a serial contestant since winning Miss Aintree Rosebud at the age of four. It led to a bizarre childhood for her, traipsing along the Welsh coast with her mother, visiting seaside resorts such as Rhyl, Llandudno, Prestatyn, in search of the next sash. "I have about 50 sashes under my mum's bed because my bedroom is too small," she says; they include titles such as Miss Jubilee, Miss Bolton, Miss Sunbeam, Miss Southport Rose, Miss Ford News. When there are no big competitions on the horizon, she'll scour the local newspapers for more low-key pageants.

She won Miss Wyre and the Merseyside heat of Miss England this year – two big prizes – as well as Miss Aintree, a local competition. "It was overwhelming to win Miss Wyre," she says. "I've been doing the toddler section, teenage section and then I win the adult section. When they present you with a big sash, a tiara, a bunch of flowers, a trophy and a cheque, it is like being in another world," she says dreamily. Her school friends thought it was all a bit cheesy, and wondered what the hell she was doing. But they had to think again when she won a cheque for £700, a holiday to Ibiza, £250 of hair vouchers, a weekend at a Holiday Inn in Liverpool and a year's gym membership. "I'm putting £400 in a savings account for when I go to university," she says.

For the post-feminist contestant, it seems, there is more to life than the beauty circuit. Indeed, this year's Miss World contest has been rocked by the principled stand of some contestants, who are refusing to travel to the host country, Nigeria, in protest at its decision to stone a single mother to death for adultery.

As for Earl, she's looking at the bigger picture, too. "My real ambition is to become an RAF pilot," she says.

Sounds like a good line for the judges at Thursday's big showdown.

Miss England, Liverpool Olympia, at 7.30pm on Thursday