A NORTH Yorkshire student has reached the semi-finals of national beauty contest.

Emily Austin, 18, who is studying for A-Levels at Northallerton College, is one of about 60 people to reach the semi-finals of Miss Teen Great Britain.

The charity pageant raises money for Together for Short Lives, a charity for children with life-threatening or life-limiting conditions and their carers.

To be fast-tracked to the finals, which take place in Blackpool in October this year, those taking part need to be as many “likes” as possible on their official photograph on the Miss Teen Great Britain Facebook site.

Emily, from Northallerton, said: “To enter the contest we had to send photographs off and answer questions about what is important to us and what our biggest achievements are.

“Miss Teen GB supports the Together for Short Lives charity which helps a lot of children in the area, so it’s good to be supporting something like that as well.”

Emily has also reached the finals of another beauty contest, Miss North Yorkshire.

The contest aims to find the area’s next top model and role model and raises money for Candlelighters, a charity which helps children in Yorkshire battling cancer and their families. The contestants have already featured in a national campaign to highlight the effects of peer pressure on young people.

The finals will be held at the Swan Hotel in Billingham in June.