BEAUTY queen Sherene Fogg is set to represent Bolton in the Miss Great Britain contest next month.

All thanks to her mum!

The former runner-up in the Bolton Evening News 'Girl of the Year' competition will be taking to the catwalk with the cream of the country's modelling elite at the swish Elysium Club on London's Regent Street next month.

"I was amazed when I got the letter to say I had been chosen," said Sherene.

"In 1996, I was the pin-up girl for the Royal Marines and spent a year travelling round the world with them.

"My mum sent those pictures to the Miss Great Britain organisers without my knowing and they wrote back asking me to represent Bolton and Bury in the competition."

It is not the first time mum Barbara has given Sherene's modelling career a helping hand.

"When I was 15, my mum and my nan entered me in a beauty competition for the Bolton and Bury Journal, and I won.

"The prize was a 12 month hairdressing and modelling course. We were taught some of the essentials like hair and beauty, catwalk walking and how to pose."

The former St Gabriels' and Holy Cross College girl is not too nervous about being in the big time.

"I've really been modelling since I was two. I have entered and won lots of competitions since then, so I'm used to dealing with TV cameras and photo shoots."

"Plus my main job is now modelling and promotions work. I've recently been doing promotional work for the Football Association and cosmetics giant Maybelline."

Sherene's track record certainly is impressive, including the titles of Miss Liverpool in 1993 and Miss Wyre in 2001.

It hasn't always been easy, though.

"When I was 11, I was entered for a Miss Blackpool competition, and around that age I was a little bit podgy.

"It didn't do me any harm, though!"