A FORMER national gymnast is looking for local support in her bid to be crowned FHM magazine’s High Street Honey 2009.

Pascal Craymer, 21, has reached the final 100 in the modelling competition, which attracted almost 14,000 entries and offers a £10,000 prize.

The former Deanes School pupil was a member of the British junior gymnastics squad and represented her country until a knee injury forced her to give up the sport aged 16.

Pascal, from Leigh, said: “Winning would change my life and would give me endless opportunities. It would be so great for me, and for Essex as a whole.”

The 100 shortlisted contestants are all featured in the current issue of FHM, and the competition will be decided by a public vote which opened online today and runs until November 27.

Pascal, who works with her father at Leigh Carport, which sells secondhand cars, will need to finish in the top ten to progress to the competition’s grand final early next year.

Winning would allow her to realise her long-held ambition of becoming a model.

She said: “My boyfriend entered me into the competition. I knew nothing about it. I have wanted to do modelling all my life.”

Pascal has a page on the social networking site Facebook urging people to support her, and is planning a series of events around the town to promote her campaign.

She said: “My sister, Kendall, has been my main support and I would like to thank her.

“When I hurt my knee and had to give up gymnastics, it broke my heart “My mum and dad are very happy for me and they have always been supportive. If I don’t win I will keep going with my modelling. I’m also hoping to qualify as a professional gymnastics coach because it is my passion.”

To vote for Pascal visit www.fhm.com/honeys