A SCHOOLGIRL has won a place in the final of a national beauty pageant.

Harley Morgan, 14, will represent Colchester when she takes part in the competition next spring to claim the title of Miss Teen Galaxy UK 2010.

She is one of 50 girls who will be at the March final in Cheshire.

If she is successful, Harley, of Freeman Close, High Woods, Colchester, could travel to America to compete for the international title.

Her proud mum Claire said she had been encouraged to enter the competition by her big sister Carrie Lowry.

She said: “She has had problems with confidence in the past and this has really boosted that.

“I have tried to stay out of it, because I didn’t want to be a pushy mum, but her sister kept telling her to go for it.”

Harley, a pupil at East Bergholt High School, is being sponsored by Sheppard Racing, based in Colchester.

She said: “My sister said I should go for it. It’s a great achievement and I can’t wait to meet the other girls.”