BEAUTIFUL babies and terrific tots could win their family a one week holiday in the Oxford Mail Baby of the Year competition.

Photographers from Fraser Portraits will be at Oxford’s Westgate Centre and then at Matalan in the John Allen Centre, Cowley, over the next two weeks to capture charming pictures of the county’s children.

Every entrant will be featured in a special supplement in the Oxford Mail on Tuesday, April 23, and readers will be able to vote for their favourite.

The winner will get a one week Platinum Holiday with Vauxhall Holiday Park, worth up to £1,000, as well as a canvas print and trophy, courtesy of Fraser Portraits.

Little Isabella Charlett captured the hearts of Oxford Mail readers in last year’s contest and won the holiday.

There were 12,000 phone, text and postal votes in the competition and Isabella, in the 0-9 month category, got the most votes, with three runners-up from each age group.

Daisy Fleetwood, mum to now 16-month-old Isabella, said: “We haven’t been on holiday yet, but we are looking forward to it. We are going to Cyprus in September.”

The Headington 26-year-old added: “It was a brilliant feeling when I found out that she won, a really proud moment for us all.

“We never expected to win but until you enter, you never know.”

Katy Trueman, is mum to one of last year’s runners-up – Harry Trueman, now 18 months old. The Littlemore 32-year-old said: “He went to Legoland with his cousin so he had a nice day.

“It is quite nice to get the big photo and we bought the portrait picture. It was something that I wanted to do anyway. It is just a bit of fun really, you get to see them in the paper.”

The other runners-up last year were 14-month-old Carlito McMahon-Thomas, of Cowley, and Jenson Goodgame, of Sandhills.

Oxford Mail promotions manager Jo Coady said: “The Baby of the Year competition is a fantastic opportunity for parents to get a memorable snap of their child to keep forever.

“And families should not miss out on the chance to win the top prize.

“Last year’s competition was a fantastic success, with hundreds of entries, and we expect the competition to be even tougher this year.”

Baby of the Year is open to children aged up to three.

There are three age categories: Up to nine months, 10 to 18 months and 19 to 36 months.

There will be one overall winner and two runners-up from the other two categories, which will be decided by public votes – which can be cast by text, phone or coupon.

The photographer will be at Oxford’s Westgate Centre every day from Monday until Saturday, March 16, from 10am-4pm.

Then they will be at Matalan in the John Allen Centre, Cowley, every day from Monday, March 18 to Saturday, March 23, from 10am-4pm.

Pick up your Oxford Mail on any of those dates to get your entry form.