YOU suspect that this was one assignment the Evening News photographers were all hoping to get - covering the day that the reigning Miss UK came to Bolton in 1988.

Kirsty Roper from Stoke-on-Trent, then 17, had just been crowned when she paid a visit which included calling in to the Bolton Evening News offices on Churchgate.

She said: "I've never been to Bolton before but it seems a fantastic place.

"I really enjoy meeting new people in different parts of the country although it's already proving to be very hard work."

Kirsty came to Bolton in September and two months later she took part in the Miss World competition at London's Royal Albert Hall when she finished second runner-up behind Miss Iceland.

Few people who saw Kirsty when she travelled up to Bolton would believe the remarkable turns her life would take.

After a modelling career she became a songwriter and was signed by Warner Records. She co-wrote the song Black Coffee which became a number one single for All Saints in the UK and she also released her own solo albums. She supported Simply Red at the prestigious Montreux Jazz Festival in 2010.

Twenty years ago she married Ernesto Bertarelli, an expert in biotechnology and one of the richest men in the world.

On this year's Sunday Times Rich List she was ranked the fourth wealthiest woman in Britain with a fortune estimated at a staggering £9.2 billion.

The couple and their three children live in Switzerland and have their own charity foundation which supports a number of research projects around the world.

The 17-year-old schoolgirl who came to Bolton in 1988 has certainly made a name for herself!