Solicitors get everywhere, don't they? Witness the recent Miss England competition in London, where the celebrity judging panel - including such luminaries as Simon from Blue, TV presenter Richard Blackwood and Dean Gaffeny from 'Eastenders' - was watched over by Gideon Cristofoli, a solicitor at Hampshire firm Bookers & Bolton, as the official adjudicator.

Competition organiser Angie Beasely said she had considered it important to have a solicitor in the role 'as it is a profession that is respected and trusted by all'.

Mr Cristofoli, who acts for Ms Beasely, said: 'It was an amazing opportunity to attend a fantastic evening.

My role was to ensure the judges followed the rules in coming to their decision.' And that decision was to crown the oldest competitor, 25-year-old Jackie Turner from Dorset, as Miss England; she will go on to the Miss World competition, being held in China in December.

Mr Cristofoli said that the objections some have to beauty competitions had not put him off.

'We live in a world where beauty is respected and I didn't see anything wrong with it,' he said.

'Every pop band and actor is expected to be beautiful, yet we've got funny over beauty competitions.' Sadly, hopes that Ms Turner could publicise the role of solicitors in the same way as Ms Beasely appear to be ill-founded.

She says that she hopes 'to help people become more aware of nutrition and fitness'.