18-year-old Sonia Danica Thrall says she's delighted at beating off competition from more than a dozen other girls to be named the first Miss Derby. The amateur model from Heanor came out on top at the event at Walkabout bar on Sunday night. She said: "I just entered not thinking I'd get anywhere. Then we were whittled down to 14 girls and I won it! "I couldn't believe it! I was delighted - it's something I've always wanted to do."
Sonia had to negotiate several rounds to claim the crown in front of dozens of on-lookers. She explained: "We had a pre-interview followed by three rounds - daywear, outrageous clubwear and evening wear. Then we had an interview live on stage. We were being judged out of 45 and I got 43!" Now she'll go forward to represent Derby at the Miss England event which takes place in Liverpool in July. She said: "I've already been on the website to see who's won the regional heats. There's definitely going to be some good competition but let's hope." And if her modelling career doesn't pan out, Sonia has several other ideas of what she might do with her life. She's studying an English course at college and when she's not working at one of her four part-time jobs she's busy planning a business career with her twin sister Sophie. She explained: "We're hoping to open a beauty salon together and call it 'Twins'. We want to open a place in Derby and then extend to London. "We've had a few offers to model together but she's not interested at all. She's the total opposite to me!" | 
