TWO beauty queens from the region were pipped to the Miss England crown by a rival who raised thousands of pounds for charity.

Miss North Yorkshire, Anastasia Smith, and People’s Choice winner Miss Sunderland, Tamzin Cummings, were placed second and third respectively after it emerged Miss Devon, Charlotte Holmes, had raised more than £2,000 for Breast Cancer Research.

Miss Smith, of York, won the event’s Great Lengths Stunning Style Queen award, and Sunderland University fashion undergraduate Miss Cummings, both 21, were beaten to the title by a single point.

Angie Beasley, director of Miss England, said the fourday competition had culminated in a tense finale featuring the pair.

She said: “Both Anastasia and Tamzin shone on stage in a final which produced the closest result I have ever seen.

“Tamzin looked amazing in the Edwardian-inspired dress her and her mum had made from recycled materials.

“I hope they both enter Miss England again – I can see them going far.”

Miss Smith said that while beauty pageants had developed her life skills, she would not compete for the Miss England title again and planned to target becoming a movie actress.

She said: “It was great to have Tamzin, another northern girl, alongside me as it got tense in the final.

The four days were absolutely exhausting.”

The pair had faced competition from 58 rivals, including Amy Willerton, a recent winner of the TV show Signed By Katie Price and Miss Durham, Elleanor Ryan, 17, of Middlesbrough, a beauty therapist and black belt martial artist.

Previous winners of the title include Georgia Horsley, of Malton, North Yorkshire, who has worked as a model since landing the title in 2007.