A woman who battled eating disorders and body dysmorphia for many years has won the title of Miss Hertfordshire and will now go on to compete in the Miss Great Britain finals.

Nicola Redgrave, 30, won the Miss Hertfordshire title in Hitchin and, together with her younger sister, Claire - who has won the Miss Kent title - will now compete in the Miss Great Britain finals in October.

This is the first and last time the sisters will get to go against each other for the Miss Great Britain title, as next year Nicola will qualify for the Ms category, which is for ages 31 to 44.

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Nicola is aiming to use her Miss Hertfordshire platform to discuss and raise awareness of eating disorders - a cause very close to her heart.

"I want to encourage women to seek the help they need and help them to feel empowered in their own bodies," she said.

"Eating disorders and body dysmorphia are something I had unfortunately suffered from for many years, after being bullied both physically and verbally for being so underweight in school.

"At one point, I dropped down to only 5stone 11oz at 19 years old."

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For years, Nicola suffered from binge eating, purging, starvation cycles and food guilt, as well as being in denial that she had a disorder, and hiding it from her family and friends.

Happily, however, since competing in pageants from the age of 23, Nicola has managed to recover, and wants to use her platform as Miss Hertfordshire to raise awareness of eating disorders and body dysmorphia.

"I have managed to heal and make a huge recovery," she said. "I now want to use this experience to support eating disorder charities and support young people who are suffering from bullying, eating disorders and body dysmorphia."

Nicola is currently volunteering for SEED - an eating disorder support service - and fundraising for the Miss GB chosen charities Cancer Research UK and Alex's Wish. Alex’s Wish is a charity set-up to eradicate Duchenne muscular dystrophy - an aggressive form of muscular dystrophy that destroys muscles due to a lack of protein.

Nicola is raising funds by completing challenges, and hosting and organising various events, such as charity raffles and husky yoga.