A BLACKPOOL beauty is taking part in the Miss Great Britain finals this weekend, Suzanne Walker, 26, will travel to London this weekend to take part in the prestigious beauty contest after a sponsor was found for her at the eleventh hour.

Anne Singleton, of St Annes firm Fylde Office Service Bureau, contacted Suzanne after reading about her appeal for £200 backing in last week's paper.

Suzanne said: "I temped for them and Anne rang me up and said 'I believe you need a sponsor.' I got sponsorship on Friday night at 4.45pm and the deadline was Saturday."

Happily, contest organisers agreed to extend the deadline and Suzanne was able to enter at the last minute.

"I have booked a hotel and train and everything is ready," she said. "I am excited and I am nervous and I just keep thinking London is such a big place!"

Suzanne will be competing against 40 other hopefuls for the Miss Great Britain title and if she wins she will go through to Miss Tourism World in Colombia later this year.

Her family and friends are over the moon. "My mum Jeanette is running round getting all excited for me. She has taken some time off work so she can come with me," Suzanne said.

Anne Singleton said Fylde Office Service Bureau was very happy to sponsor Suzanne. "She has worked for us on and off since 1996 in between her modelling assignments," Anne said. "It is something she enjoys doing and we hope she does well."

Meanwhile, Suzanne's friend and fellow model Sam Hearn, 26, also featured in last week's appeal, was still waiting to hear if she had sponsorship for Saturday's event.

Mum Sandra said: "She had businesses who were interested but they all said it was too much pressure to make a decision so quickly and a lot have said that if it had been held in Manchester they would have been more inclined to invest.