A former police officer picked up three awards at an international eyelash competition.

Eyelash specialist and franchise owner of Flutter Epping Forest Katie Smith attended the Lash Artists International Conference and Competition in Gilbert, Arizona between March 16 and 19.

After a busy three days of tweezing and sculpting, Ms Smith walked away with silver in the Expert Open Volume Lashes competition, bronze in the Expert Creative Classic Lashes and a special judges award for the best work from Martina Kallos.

The business owner is born and bred in Epping Forest and embarked on a full time career as a lash artist in 2016, after leaving the Met Police.

She said: “I feel honoured to have won these awards and receive recognition from my peers and the Judges, who are the leading experts in the lash industry.

“It was a pleasure to attend the Lash Conference in Arizona and to learn first-hand from the different professionals within the industry who attended.”