LOVE them or hate them, beauty pageants are a long-standing tradition locally and internationally.

Today’s Timeout focuses mainly on some of the winners of beauty contests in the 70s and 80s.

Miss Gillette is pictured here with Coco the Clown, opening a new extension of Tesco in Gardner Street in Brighton.

Today, Gardner Street is a bustling street in the North Laine.

Most of its 19th-century buildings are still intact, but in the 70s a few of the houses were demolished to make way for Tesco.

Tesco later moved away, and The Jubilee Shopping Hall moved in.

The site is now the home of Komedia comedy and music venue.

Also pictured here is Susie Bessant, who held the title of Miss Brighton in 1979, and the former mayor of Brighton, John Blackman, with Miss Brighton in 1984.

John died in 2009 at the age of 87 on the day of his 63rd wedding anniversary.

Watneys, a brewery in London, had a Miss Special contest, named after their Watneys Special Bitter.

Cheryl Ann Douglas was the winner of the pageant in 1976.

Miss Ambre Solaire is also pictured here in Brighton in an unknown year.

Anne Diamond is pictured with Susannah Graham and Fleur Isaac.

Also pictured here are beauty pageant contestants Lorraine Hannah, Susie Bessant, and Nancy Kool wearing swimming costumes and holding bouquets in 1979.

Does anyone know any more about these photos? If you do, please get in touch with us.

To see more of our fantastic pictures from yesteryear go to theargus.co.uk/photoarchive.