Amelia, Ruby, Taylor, Daisy – the prettiest young faces in Bradford trotted up and down the catwalk at yesterday’s heats stage of the ModelSearch Competition at the city’s Kirkgate Centre.

More than 50 girls aged four to six took part in the early morning competition to select contenders for the grand final in a fortnight’s time.

And at a time when most parents would be struggling to get kids out of pyjamas, all of the confident, smiling children were immaculately turned out and well behaved.

Proud mum Kimberley Handforth said the whole event was one big treat for her bubbly five-year-old daughter Emily: “She totally just loves anything like this.”

Little Emily quickly chipped in: “It was really good, it felt really nice being up there,” said the little girl from Bradford.

Six-year-old Lucy, also from Bradford, was another angel-faced entrant in the competition, which is being backed by the Telegraph & Argus.

And mum Jane Jackson said her daughter had been up since 6am.

“She was so excited, she could hardly sleep and bounced out of bed before anyone else was up,” Mrs Jackson said.

The expert panel of judges will choose eight winners overall and features representatives from DK Model Agency, Modelsearch, previous winners and retailers from the Kirkgate Centre.

Judge Catherine Riley praised all the families who had taken part and said the standard yesterday was exceptionally high: “All the children are just absolutely fantastic.

“It’s going to be almost impossible to choose between them – they are all so cute in the four-to-six age group,” she said.

The most promising entrants from yesterday’s heats have now gone through to the competition finals, to be held on Sunday, May 18.

The finalists will also be put to the public vote in the T&A Readers’ Choice category, with photographs published in a supplement on Tuesday, May 13.

The free competition is divided into four age categories – four to six, seven to ten, 11 to 15 and 16-plus.