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Miss England relinquishes her crown

Date: 7/11/2009 14:23:13

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A soldier will take on beauty contest duties after the original Miss England relinquished her crown following her arrest over an apparent nightclub brawl.

Rachel Christie, 21, stepped down as she wanted to concentrate on clearing her name, a statement from Miss England organisers said

In her place marched Lance Corporal Katrina Hodge, who was first runner-up in the 2009 national contest. L/Cpl Hodge has been given leave from her duties as a soldier in the British Army and will represent England in the Miss World Final in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Saturday December 12.

She was previously given an award by her unit in the Royal Anglian Regiment for her actions during a posting in Basra and has earned the nickname "Combat Barbie".

"We arrested an Iraqi suspect we wanted to question and were taking him back to the prison when we were involved in a road accident," she previously told the Daily Mail. "Our vehicle rolled over and, when I came round, the Iraqi had escaped and had our weapons. I knew I had to do something or he would have shot us all dead. It was a real do-or-die moment.

"My training just kicked in and I managed to disarm him, get the weapons back and restrain him."

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She has also previously worked with lingerie chain La Senza on its Face of the Armed Forces campaign. Lisa Bond, marketing director of La Senza said: "Not only is she absolutely gorgeous but she is also an intelligent, inspiring young woman who does such an amazing job for her country."

Miss Christie became involved in a dispute with another beauty queen, Miss Manchester, aka Sara Beverley Jones, at a Manchester nightclub earlier this week.

Miss Jones, 24, was allegedly punched in the face after arguing about Tornado, a Gladiator who appears in the Sky1 series and whose real name is David McIntosh.

Miss Christie was arrested on suspicion of assault and has been bailed until January 2010.

2009 © Press Association

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Camels overrun Oz town
Authorities plan to herd the camels with helicopters and gun them down after they overran Docker River, a small town in Australia's Outback, in search of water.

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