A competition has been launched by a regional daily to find the “face” of the county it serves.

The Colchester Daily Gazette has launched its “Face of Essex” contest, which will see one reader placed on the books of a modelling agency for a year.

However, the Gazette says it is not looking for models and wants “normal” people from the county to apply.

The competition, which will only be covered by the Gazette online, is open to all Essex residents over the age of 18.

Editor James Wills said: “This is not a traditional modelling competition – there are plenty of those already. What we want to try and collect is a real snapshot of the people of Essex, of all ages, sexes, colours and creeds.

“We are such a diverse county and we want this to be reflected in the entrants so please, send us your picture and who knows, you could win one of our great prizes.”

A panel of judges will pick finalists and readers will then pick the winners through a public phone vote, with one male and one female victor being placed on the books of the Pam Model Agency for a year.

Agency owner Pam Boon said: “It’s a very exciting opportunity and there’s an awful lot of beautiful faces in Colchester. The competition is for people who have got an inkling they might like to get into modelling, dancing, adverts, singing – I would say just do it, otherwise you’ll never know. It could open doors for a lot of things.”