The Face of Croydon modelling competition has been thrown into chaos after it emerged that the winner may have broken the rules.

An investigation was launched by Fashion Enter, the show's organisers, into whether new Face of Croydon Kym Whittle is actually a full-time resident of the town.

The 18-year-old, who won the title and a year-long modelling contract in the competition on Saturday, could be stripped of her crown.

The rules of the competition state entrants must be resident in the Croydon borough - but it can be revealed Miss Whittle lives with her parents in Lewisham while at college and only part-time in Thornton Heath.

In a further twist, Kym's sister Sherine, who is also her manager, was involved in the organisation of the Fashion Festival at which the second Face of Croydon competition was one of the events.

She admitted that Kym lived in Lewisham but had also spent time living at an address in Thornton Heath.

Sherine, marketing executive for Croydon Enterprise, said yesterday: "She does live at the family home in Lewisham while taking her A-levels but has spent the last three months living permanently in Thornton Heath because of personal problems.

"Of course she is upset as far as she is concerned she is the winner and won fair and square.

"She is just being smeared. She found out about the Face of Croydon while she was staying in Thornton Heath and decided to enter it. There was never anything in the rules to suggest how long you had to be a resident."

Sherine yesterday denied there was a conflict of interest in her sister entering and her working for festival organisers as she had nothing to do with the Face of Croydon competition.

Kym beat 120 other applicants to win the contest.

The prize was a year's contract with London-based Rah modelling agency, a trip to New York fashion week and an exclusive makeover with international make-up artist Iain Burton Legge.

She said she had been staying with a friend in Thornton Heath "for a couple of months".

She said: "I wanted to inspire younger children like my six-year-old niece. She really looks up to me."

Katherine Glass from Croydon BID/Business, which co-ordinated the Fashion Festival, said: "Croydon BID/Business had nothing whatsoever to do with the competition regulation, or the judging of the competition, and do not condone any breach of the rules."

Jenny Holloway, Fashion Enter director, confirmed there would be an investigation and she would be speaking to the judges.

She said: "We have to have a further conversation to see if there should be another winner. We had more than 150 people apply and we could not check everyone's application."