Miss England chief checks out York sites

9:47am Saturday 27th October 2007

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Miss England supremo Angie Beasley has carried out a "reccy" of York as she considers whether to stage next year's contest in the city.

Angie Beasley is trying to decide between two potential venues for the glamorous event, London and York - the home city of Miss England 2006 Georgia Horsley.

Tourist and economic chiefs have spoken of the massive potential benefits to York of staging the competition, which is set to be televised.

Angie started a fact-finding mission to the city yesterday and immediately went to inspect one of the potential venues, the Barbican Centre.

She was clearly impressed by the complex's size and facilities, but also had concerns about whether it would definitely be ready in time for next summer's event, following a planned major refurbishment and the construction of new bars and restaurants.

The work was originally due to be carried out earlier this year but was hit by a series of delays, and it is now due to start on December 3, with operators Absolute Leisure saying it will definitely be finished in plenty of time before the show is due to be staged. "It could be done here," said Angie cautiously. "It's possible. But we have been promised things before"

She said an all-important thing was having the backstage facilities for the girls to get changed and have their hair done. "There will be 50 contestants and 50 hairdressers," she said. "It's big enough here. It's bigger than I thought it would be."

There also needed to be enough bars. "We can't have people coming all the way from Southampton or Bournemouth and then having to queue for the bar."

She said the event would be staged like a fashion show with a catwalk coming out from the stage, and guests sitting at dining tables.

Angie said she was also planning to inspect two other potential venues in York, the Novotel and York Racecourse, during a two-day visit. She said she had already been to one potential London venue. She is expected to make her final decision by the middle of next month.