Professional mermaid Jasmine Seales, 33, from Newbury is the Hampshire contestant for Miss Ocean World UK

A professional mermaid is hoping she will be crowned Miss Ocean World UK at the mermaid pageant’s national finals this month.

Jasmine Seales has been selected as the Hampshire contestant for the upcoming event, which will take place at the Lincoln Arts Centre on Saturday, November 30.

The 33-year-old from Newtown Common has been a full-time mermaid for five years now, and she said she “would never want to do anything else”.

She added: “I found mermaiding five years ago when I had had enough of losing jobs due to living with chronic illness and ADHD. I’ve been doing it full-time ever since and I will never look back.”

Miss Seales attends events such as weddings and children’s parties and often gets paid over £100 an hour for her work as a mermaid, which sees her submersing herself for long periods of time in large tanks and pools.

She is a trained free diver and as well as her event work, she is also a special effects artist and creates tails for the other 350-plus mermaids across the country.

These silicone tails take up to eight weeks to make by hand, and can cost between £1,000 and £5,000 to purchase.

Miss Seales grew up on the Isle of Wight and spent her childhood jumping off cliffs, walking on beaches and swimming in the sea and so has always felt a strong affinity to the ocean and being in water.

She said a key reason why she is taking part in the pageant is so that she can educate people about the current ecological problems facing marine life in the UK and across the world.

Miss Seales took part in the March for Clean Water in London on Sunday (November 3), joining thousands of protesters demanding action to be taken on the country’s contaminated coastal waters and rivers.

She said: “It makes me really sad. This is why I’ve joined Miss Ocean World. It is another really creative platform that we can share and spread awareness about these issues.

“We are also raising money for the PADI AWARE Foundation. Their conservation strategy is to rid the ocean of debris, multiply marine protected areas, protect endangered vulnerable marine species, accelerate coral reef recovery and restoration by reducing the dive industry’s carbon footprint so I have been doing lots of meet and greets for this.”

If Miss Seales is victorious in Lincoln, she will be jetted of on an all-expenses paid trip to India to compete in the world finals next year.