Oxford's Miss England winner Eleanor Glynn conquered her fear of flying to travel from France to Ukraine for the finals of the Miss Europe competition.

Miss Glynn, 20, from Sandford-on-Thames, vowed never to fly again after a stormy journey back from the Miss World contest in Poland earlier this month.

She was contemplating a 27-hour, 1,200-mile train ride across six countries to get from Paris to Kiev, Ukraine's capital, where the Miss Europe contest is being staged over the next fortnight. She travelled to France to meet other Miss Europe contestants before the journey and they persuaded her to get on the plane on Saturday.

Her mother Patricia travelled with her to Paris on a Eurostar train through the Channel Tunnel.

She later spoke to her by phone after she arrived in Kiev.

Mrs Glynn said: "Eleanor was thinking of taking the train but in the end she was able to beat her fears and get on the plane.

"We stayed overnight in Paris on Friday, because she certainly wasn't going to fly on Friday the 13th.

"With Eleanor, it's more than just the usual nerves some people have with flying - she really is frightened - so she has been quite brave.

"She said the flight was a bit bumpy for the first hour and a half, but after that it was okay."

Miss Glynn will have an engagement rather closer to home when she returns from Kiev at the end of the month - an appearance at the Clothes Show in Birmingham in December.