YOU CAN keep your Tour de Eiffel, Piazza del Popolo and Statue of Liberty -- one top British model would swop them all for a bag of chips and Blackpool's 'Iron Lady' any day!

In a recent edition of US fashion bible, American Vogue, Oldham-born catwalk queen, Karen Elson (above) can be seen adding a bit of joi de vivre to the resort's seafront as part of a four page feature.

Posing in a variety of eye-catching designer ensembles, the 24-year-old flame-haired Lancashire lass scoffs a bag of chips on the prom, rides a merry-go-round and makes sandcastles on the beach.

Karen -- whose unorthodox looks have earned her a huge following from designers around the globe including Gucci and Christian Dior -- also tells readers that, despite working in the world's most glamorous cities, Blackpool is her dream destination.

And says that she and twin sister -- fellow model Kate -- used to visit the Fylde coast regularly as youngsters for family holidays.

She said: "It Blackpool is where I used to go on holiday before I became a model."

"There's something about eating fish and chips on a cold, windy beach at the English seaside that's just unbeatable."

Karen is also pictured -- in a slightly less glamorous pose -- wearing a $600 mink coat and pouting among a collection of garden gnomes outside This'N'That in Resin on Bond Street in South Shore.

Shop owner, Barry Wells, 57, says he was taken aback when approached by magazine bosses asking to set up the shoot.

Barry said: "It did mildly surprise me, but it is a very original shop -- you will never find anything like it in England.

"I think it is one of the reasons why opted for my shop because it is so unusual.