Miss Oxford contestants are being reminded they do not need to be thin to enter this year's competition.

Angie Beasley, the organiser of the Miss England contest, has reminded young women in Oxfordshire that size does not matter when it comes to taking part in the Miss Oxford contest, which is being backed by the Oxford Mail.

She spoke out after Chloe Marshall, 17, who is a size 16, entered the Miss Surrey competition.

Chloe is 5ft 10ins tall and weighs 12 stone 8lb - and Miss England organisers want to remind contestants that they don't have to be thin to do well in the competition.

Ms Beasley said: "The sky's the limit for a beautiful, curvy girl like Chloe.

"We would like to remind girls in Oxfordshire they don't need to be stick-thin to enter this contest - in fact we encouraged Georgia Horsley, the current Miss England, to put on weight before she competed in Miss World last year.

"We would like to encourage girls of all sizes to come forward for the competition, as long as they are healthy and in proportion."

Chloe, who took up a strict fitness regime to drop from a size 18 to a size 16 after she was bullied at school, said: "Girls are under such crazy pressure to be thin these days.

"I'm not a stick insect, but I've got a strict exercise regime and I enjoy looking pretty.

"When I pick up a size 16 in Topshop I'm made to feel I'm at the fat end of the scale, but 16 is the average dress size for British women."

The trainee beautician runs for 40 minutes every day and rides horses on the farm where she lives near Guildford.

Chloe added: "I love roast dinners and banoffee pie, so I have them in moderation.

"I no longer eat pies and pizza all the time, and now I'm toned up and happy."

Eleanor Glynn, 21, from Sandford-on-Thames, who won the Miss England competition in 2006, stepped in to the size zero debate when she revealed she had been turned down by three model agencies for being a size 10.

She gave a speech at the Oxford Union last February revealing she loved cake and chocolate and had refused to change her diet.

She urged models not to bow to pressure to be thin and said: "Agencies are looking for size four or six - they are not looking for beauty and good bodies, just stick insects."