GREAT-granny Babs Bourne knows a thing or two about glamour after 60 years of winning competitions. Now aged 79, her latest triumph is to be picked for the finals of the Glamorous Grandmother Competition in Scarborough.

Babs, of Geneva Avenue, Gillingham, made it through a series of heats and semi-finals in Brighton to win one of ten places at the event in Scarborough in February. She said: "It's a wonderful thing to have achieved. To get through to the last ten makes me very happy. They probably won't pick anyone my age as winner, but I am just happy to have got as far as I have."

Competitors, aged from 90 down to just 32, received scores from four judges on qualities such as their deportment, hair, and grooming. The contestants also had to talk about themselves, including their hobbies and families.

"A lot depends on what you say in front of the judges," Babs said. "I talked about my granddaughter and they seemed to like that."

She added: "Perhaps it would be better if the competition was for the most elegant grandmother, because I am not sure you can be glamorous at 79! My husband disagrees of course and says I should not put myself down."

Babs won her first title as Holiday Princess at the Theatre Royal in Chatham in 1941, winning £4. Since then she has won awards at the Palace Theatre and the casino in Rochester. Last year, she made it as far as the semi-finals in the search for the most glamorous granny.

Husband Tony went along with Babs to Brighton and is looking forward to Scarborough next year."I think it's great what she's done," he said.