FIVE women flew the flag for the North-East in the annual Miss Great Britain competition last week.

Miss Teesside GB, Sarah Gething, made history by becoming the first woman from the region to net a title in the long-running pageant.

PE teacher Ms Gething, from Middlesbrough, was named Miss Publicity Great Britain after using her Miss Teesside title to raise the profile of the competition.

Miss Newcastle, 21-year-old Coral Patrick, reached the final 15, while wildcard entrant Robyn Lucas, from Darlington, narrowly missed out on the Miss Charity award.

Other representatives from the region included Miss Sunderland, 24-year-old Lucy Hough and Miss Durham, 19-year-old Taylor Hamilton.

After netting her first title, Miss Gething is preparing to enter next year’s competition and says she will continue the charitable work undertaken ahead of this year’s event.

She said: “I want to use this experience to prove that no dream is too big and whatever you want to do in life you can and you can be whoever you want to be.

“I’ve been running body confidence classes because as a PE teacher I see a lot of issues around that in boys and girls.

“There’s a lot of pressure to look a certain way and I want people to see I’m not perfect but look at what I can achieve.”

Miss Durham GB Taylor Hamilton added: “I first entered Miss North East as it was something out of my comfort zone and I was really intrigued to see what pageant life holds.

“Being at Miss Great Britain did not disappoint.”

The national event, in Leicester, saw 50 finalists take to the catwalk to compete in a number of categories including Little Black Dress, swimwear and evening wear.

Collectively, the Miss North East GB competitors raised more than £12,000 for charity in the run up to the event.