HODDLESDEN beauty Michelle Rowell has taken a big step towards her dream of becoming Miss England 2006 by receiving the financial backing of a Blackburn nightclub.

Michelle, 19, of Earls Drive, has reached the final of the Miss Alton Towers event, to be held at the theme park in May but to take her place in the event, which leads to the Miss England competition, she needed a sponsor willing to hand over £100.

After she appeared in the Lancashire Evening Telegraph last month, Michelle, a customer co-ordinator for Barclays Bank, was inundated with offers of sponsorship.

She said: "I decided to go with Heaven and Hell because they were the kind of business I wanted to get involved with."