Lancaster prison officer pipped at the post for Miss England crown

Melissa Butcher secured a top 12 place for the grand final on Thursday and Friday (May 16 and 17) after winning a gruelling sports round which saw beauty queens put through their paces by a former Royal Marine.

The new Miss England was crowned at an event staged at Grand Central in Wolverhampton – with 24-year-old Melissa finishing as one of two runners-up.

Winner Milla Magee, god-daughter of Meg Matthews and Noel Gallagher, will now take her place in the Miss World Final.

First runner-up was Charlotte Grant from Liverpool.

Melissa will now return to her job at a Category-C jail in the North West.

She said she wants to use her platform to promote women in male-dominated industries and to change the stereotypes attached to young women officers.

"I entered Miss England as I want to show that you don't have to be 'rough and tough and big and strong' in order to do the job as a prison officer,” she said.

"There are many other qualities such as just being able to communicate and speak with people which help you be a good officer.”

Melissa said she did get the odd inappropriate comment from some of the inmates but ‘you just have to tell them straight not to talk to you like that’.

"Most of the time it is fine, although it can be a challenging job I love what I do,” she added.

Melissa’s sponsor for Miss England was Morecambe's Tyson Fury who suffered the first defeat of his career against Oleksandr Usyk at the weekend.