HOUNSLOW'S entrant to the Miss India UK competition 2004 picked up a prestigious award at the final event, held to celebrate the Indian culture.

Seema Gharu, of Hanworth Road, was awarded the Femy Beauty Award for her stunning good looks and collected a bag of beauty products and salon treatments as her prize.

Seema, a Kingston University student, was one of 24 girls who made it through to the final stage of the competition. The 20-year-old performed a Bollywood style dance and donned a traditional white sari and a black Spanish style evening gown to impress the judges.

Despite not making it through to the Miss India finals in Delhi, Seema was delighted: "I got a really good reception from the audience and my family were all cheering from the end of the catwalk. I'm feeling very proud. I keep looking through the newspapers and seeing pictures of myself. My little brother is really impressed."