A TRIO of charismatic women are in the running to rule over the county town.

The semi-finalists for this year’s Dorchester Carnival Queen competition were announced during a judging night to whittle the competitors down to three.

Judges looked for the individual who could best serve as an ambassador for the town.

Impressing them most with their womanly wiles were Hollie Hyde, 25, from Poundbury, Leoni Ling, 26, from Crossways and Jennifer Dite, 24, from Poundbury.

Tensions were high as five contestants battled it out to reach the semi-finals at the Kings Arms pub in Dorchester.

They were asked to model a going out outfit and one that reflects an interest or hobby.

As the contestants vied for the throne, they told representatives of organisers Dorchester Ellipse and the judging panel about their ambitions and the craziest things they have done.

Breaking the mould was junior stylist Sin Sansford, 18, of Dorchester, the only male in the competition.

Marten Gregory, Dorchester Round Table spokesman, said: “The competition is open to all entrants and we were happy for it to be open to a chap and for him to go through the process.

“We didn’t have a huge number of entrants, but we thought the quality was excellent.

“All of them were brilliant and any of them would have made excellent ambassadors for Dorchester and surrounding areas.

“It was just a shame that we didn’t have more entrants - that is something we will be discussing at our next carnival meeting.”

The panel of judges included last year’s Carnival Queen Shelley Walton, 26, of Puddletown, and Cerne Abbas fashion designer Anna Booth.

Anna will be making dresses for all three semi-finalists to wear at the Party in the Park on June 19, the day before the weekend of carnival celebrations.

After the winner is crowned, she will take part in a number of ceremonial roles for Dorchester such as the Dorset Show prize giving, opening the Dorchester Beer Festival and will present cheques to some of the organisations that benefit from carnival funds.