TWENTY-four hours after being crowned, she still could not bear to take off the winner’s sash that tells the world she is Miss Hampshire 2013.

In fact Hayley Adlam was still dressed from head to toe yesterday in the costume in which she won the annual beauty pageant.

Smiling from ear to ear, the 22-year-old from Fordingbridge, in the New Forest, told the Daily Echo: “I just did not want to take it off – if I did I worried it would not feel real anymore.”

Strolling the streets near her home, dozens of people approached Hayley to congratulate her on winning the much-coveted crown.

Now Hayley, who studies marine geography at Cardiff University, will represent her county at the Miss England competition in Torquay from June 13 to 16.

Watching her take home the crown at Alton House Hotel was her sister Charlotte, 19, mum Angela, 53, dad Philip, 60, and her boyfriend Michael Stanyard, 26.

Having finished second in Miss Norfolk last year, when she was doing a work placement in Norwich, Hayley is over the moon that she has won the pageant that matters the most to her.

She said: “With Miss Norfolk I was very honoured to be runner-up but Miss Hampshire was the one that really matters.

“Hampshire is part of who I am. Driving back after winning and looking at the beautiful landscape in the county it makes me feel amazed that I am representing Hampshire.”

Boyfriend Michael, who lives in Bristol, said: “My first reaction was to bolt out of my chair to give her a massive round of applause. I almost knocked our drinks off the table.

“I always thought that she could win it. She is a very calm and intelligent and beautiful person inside and out. She just exudes that quality every day, every second.

“I have really enjoyed supporting her in something she enjoys doing. Just seeing her and supporting her is brilliant.”

Sister Charlotte, 19, who is studying for her A-levels at Ringwood School, said: “It is wonderful. It was such a high level of competition. We are all so proud of Hayley for winning. I think the sash and the crown look great on her.”

Hayley grew up in Fordingbridge, attending the town’s infant and junior schools, and then went on to Burgate School and Sixth Form, where she gained straight A grades in four A-levels – English language, English literature, geography and art and design.

Away from studying and beauty pageants, Hayley has a wide range of talents. She is a hot-shot at clay pigeon shooting, a keen cheerleader and enjoys Irish dancing.

Some see winning a beauty pageant as a step forward on the modelling career ladder, but for Hayley her ambition is to get a job in the marine biology sector of hydrographic surveying, and modelling is something that she would like to do on the side.

For the next few weeks, however, her mind will be firmly focused on her final university exams, which start on Monday.