A BRADFORD on Avon mother has won the Miss Voluptuous UK pageant title and a trip to the United States of America.

Laura Spencer, 35, took the title this month at the pageant final at the Belfry Hotel in Cambridge. All the finalists were size 14-plus.

She beat 25 other finalists to win the title and a trip to Chicago for the Miss Voluptuous USA Pageant final plus a magazine feature.

Her friend Lyndsay Mizen, 37, from Semington, finished in the top ten at the awards ceremony.

Laura said: “I have been preparing for this pageant for a year and I tried my best. I always put in 100 per cent effort.

“I was surprised to win because of the high quality of the girls there. When they called out my name, it was a bit of a shock.

“There were so many amazing and inspirational women taking part and it was just an honour to be among them.”

Laura is on maternity leave from her role as a guest services manager with the Holiday Inn Express in Bath.

She entered the pageant while she was pregnant with her first child, Elera, who is now more than ten months old.

Lyndsay, 37, from Semington, met Laura at Nutricia Ltd in Trowbridge and was encouraged to enter by her friend.

The Miss Voluptuous pageant started in the USA some years ago but this is the first year that it has been staged in this country.

Each of the 26 contestants were given a platform to raise awareness of the charities they support.

Over the next 12 months, Laura will be raising awareness of her work with the Wiltshire-based Help the Heroes and the armed forces charity SSAFA.

Lyndsay, who works with Nutricia as a CRM support advisor, has been raising awareness of the mental health charity MIND and Carers for the UK.