These young women are the lucky seven who have been chosen for the final of the Miss Oxford Mail competition.

Tomorrow, the seven women, chosen from an original shortlist of 34, are being invited to the Oxford Mail offices for a final interview with our judging panel.

At the end of the judging process, the winner will be crowned Miss Oxford, and it is hoped that the former Miss Oxford, Eleanor Glynn, will present the winner with her crown.

The seven finalists are: Zara Faulkes, 18, from Abingdon, Suzanne Ball, 22, from Eynsham, Lyndsay Fayle, 16, from Denchworth, near Wantage, Pascale Watkins, 18, from Kidlington, Shenna McGuinness, 22, from Carterton, Megan Convey, 19, from Banbury, and Chantal Murray, 22, from Headington, Oxford.

Miss Ball, who works as a personal assistant at an IT solutions company, said: "I'm thrilled to get through to the final seven.

"I'm looking forward to having a chat with the other girls again - all my friends and family are keeping their fingers crossed for me."

Miss Murray added: "I went away to Cornwall for a couple of days and when I got back there was an email saying I had been chosen for the final seven - I never expected to get this far.

"I'll be taking a day off work tomorrow and now I'm going out to choose my swimsuit."

After 20 contestants were selected to go through to the next stage from the original shortlist of 34, votelines were opened so that members of the public could vote for their favourites.

The public vote counted for a third of the judging, alongside judging from the Miss England office and the Oxford Mail.

Miss England organiser Angie Beasley said the final seven was a strong line-up and it would be difficult to choose the winner.

She added: "At first we were going to have five finalists, but three girls tied for fifth place so we decided to allow seven girls to compete in the final judging round.

"We have asked the girls to bring their swimsuits with them because there is a swimwear round in the Miss England final."

Ms Beasley said a winner would be chosen, with two women selected for second and third place, so that they could step into Miss Oxford's shoes if she couldn't make it to the Miss England final in Docklands, London, on July 18.

Ms Beasley added: "This is the last chance for the girls to impress the judges in the Miss Oxford Mail competition and at this stage it is anyone's title - they're strong contenders."

The winner of Miss Oxford Mail will get a day at a Champneys health resort of her choice and all seven finalists will receive gift bags from Champneys, and make-up and skincare products from Helen E.