A young woman who suffered cruel jibes at school for being fat hopes to have the last laugh on her tormentors.

Because today Becky Turner-Knowles will compete in a beauty pageant.

But the 20-year-old teaching assistant from Aylesham will also take the opportunity to talk about the effects of bullying and how it made her anorexic.

Her weight plummeted to just five stone, but now the former Simon Langton pupil is channelling her efforts into combating bullying and eating disorders.

“It’s fair to say I was a bit squidgy at school and got called a lot of nasty names about my appearance,” she said.

“It drove me to the other extreme and I stopped eating and lost too much weight.

“Because of my experience, I understand the devastating physical and psychological impact that bullying can have on young people, which undermines their confidence.

Now healthy, Becky, of Cornwallis Avenue, is taking part in the south east finals of Miss Empress UK, in Tenterden.

She said: “This is my first pageant and I’m very excited. I entered because I just thought it would be fun, help my confidence, build my self-esteem and be a great way of making new friends.

“But I will also be making a presentation about the effects of bullying and the need to tackle it. As a teaching assistant, promoting anti-bullying is very important to me.”

Becky, whose ambition is to be a special needs teacher, is raising money for BulliesOut, which holds workshops and training programmes, to focus on awareness, prevention, building empathy and positive peer relationships.

If Becky wins her class, she will compete in the national finals and earn the chance to win a holiday to Hawaii.