The UK's first disabled carnival princess has been crowned on Sheppey.

Westlands School pupil Abbie Bolt-Mead, 12, was chosen as one of the junior princesses, and it's believed she is Britain’s first girl in a wheelchair to be part of a carnival court.

Proud mum Mel Bolt said: “It’s amazing. Abbie has been a fan of carnivals all her life but always asked me why there were never any girls like her on the floats. She said she’d like to enter.

“I asked the organisers if it was possible and they were excellent in carrying out risk assessments to see if it was safe.”

Carnival vice-chairman Lauren McCall said: “We had never had anyone disabled enter before.

"But we made some inquiries to see how we could get Abbie on and off the float safely.

It means her mum and dad will have to take her to carnivals separately but they are happy to do so.

“Once we had found a way to make it happen, Abbie entered the preliminary round at the Sheppey Little Theatre last month and was put forward to the final.

"She won over the judges’ hearts with her personality.

“Sheppey Carnival Association is determined to pick the best representatives for the Island without any discrimination. It sends out an important message to others.”

A delighted Abbie said: “I am really excited about this and ready to be a role model.

"I wanted to show other disabled people that they can do it, too. I had noticed there were no girls in wheelchairs like me in carnivals but I couldn’t understand why.”

Her mum added: “Abbie is very independent-minded. She wants to do as much as she can.”

Abbie, who has had spinal muscular atrophy since birth, owes her independence to a £22,000 specially adapted wheelchair.

Mel said: “It was self-financed by ourselves and the family. We call it our Mercedes but it is worth its weight in gold for Abbie.

"She can go almost anywhere with it and she can adjust its height so she can pick things up from the floor.”

Doctors diagnosed Abbie’s condition when she was 28 months old. Last August she spent 10 days in hospital undergoing an operation to insert rods along her spine.

Her dad Craig quipped: “Now that Abbie is part of the carnival court, it looks like we will be covering a lot of extra miles this year!”