SHE has suffered from severe asthma since a very young age – now the winner of Miss York 2011 plans to use her triumph to raise awareness of the condition.

Anastasia Smith, 20, of Norton, the same town as previous Miss York Georgia Horsley, said she had been in hospital several times because of asthma and wanted to go into schools to help both pupils and teachers understand the illness better.

“I know how traumatic and scary it can be to suffer from asthma and I had a very difficult time in school,” said Anastasia, who also had to have two operations for a hole-in-the-heart condition as a child.

She revealed she was planning to raise money for Asthma UK and the Jane Tomlinson charity by taking part in a 10K run at the end of June.

Anastasia was crowned Miss York at the Royal York Hotel on Sunday night after being chosen from 28 finalists. She will now go forward to a Miss England boot camp and then the final at the Metropole Hotel in Birmingham in July. She was also made Miss York Photogenic on Sunday, which guarantees her a year’s work as a model.

She said she would also be taking part in a music video with singer Paolo Nutini.

“I play his long-lost love,” she said.

Anastasia was born in York but moved with her family to Bristol before moving to Norton when she was 16.

She said she had worked until recently as a make-up at Fenwicks in York, and she thanked the store for sponsoring her in Miss York and also thanked contest organiser Naomi Smith for a ‘fabulous night.’ She revealed she had become involved with the charity Look Good Feel Better at York Hospital, which promoted the therapeutic benefits of make-up for chemotherapy patients.

She added that her key long-term career goal was something completely different from the world of modelling and make-up: she hopes to travel to Idaho, in the US, to study at the Academy of Equine Dentistry, with the aim of qualifying to practise as an equine dentist.