TWELVE months ago, Megan Thompson was cursing the Royal Lancashire Show for causing miles of tailbacks which kept her blocked in her home for two days.

On Wednesday, she was the queen of the show after being crowned the first ever Miss Royal Lancashire in a beauty pageant.

The 18-year-old would-be actress lives in Dinckley, the tiny hamlet adjoining the Salesbury Hall Farm show site at Ribchester, near Blackburn.

She said: "I'll definitely have better memories of this year's show than last year's! I was stuck indoors because the traffic was so bad we couldn't get anywhere. This year it has been much better organised.

"But I never thought I'd win this!"

Megan's victory came in an event introduced for the first time this year as part an attempt to widen the appeal of a show with its roots deep in the agricultural world.

More traditional displays included pigs, goats and sheep.

Animals of a different variety battled it out in the Royal Lancashire Show mascot race, with a monkey from Accrington Stanley, a lion from Blackburn Rovers, a bee from Burnley and a duck from Preston North End.

Trade stands offered everything from hot-tubs to imported Volkswagens.

In the food tent, meanwhile, was what could prove the wedding craze for 2005 -- strawberries dipped in a fountain of chocolate.

courtesy of the Essex-based Chocolate Fondue Company.

former pupil of Westholme School,

STUNNER: Megan Thompson was crowned the first ever Miss Royal Lancashire

and then eat them.

Martin Tapper, from the company, said: "We've had plenty of people asking for them to be used at their wedding.

"They are something different, and I think there will be plenty of weddings round here with them next year." It's been a really good show for us to come to."

Back in the rings, there was one to go on display to the thousands who turned up yesterday.

Judging was carried out by the great and the good, including local mayors, such as Coun Charles Warkman, first citizen of the Ribble Valley.

Among the tents he visited was Ribble Valley's own marquee, home to several displays from the borough council, as well as other projects which support local farmers.

As on Tuesday, organisers of the show were cock-a-hoop after their carefully put together access plans appeared to pay off.

At worst, people leaving the site found themselves having to slow down as they left the showground.

Inspector Bob Ford, of Clitheroe police, said: "It has been another excellent day. We had a few problems on Tuesday night on the A59, but that was caused by an articulated lorry breaking down.

"We are grateful to drivers for following the routes set down for them, which has enabled a generally smooth flow of traffic on to the site."

Away from the animals, dozens of