The winners of the first Faces of Croydon competition have been crowned.

Our search to find the people who represent Croydon's rich cultural diversity and reflect its sense of community started eight weeks ago.

More than 1,000 people entered the competition, run by Centrale shopping centre with photographic agency Picture Partnership.

That group was whittled down to nine finalists three in the under 11, under 18 and 18 plus categories who appeared at Centrale last Thursday.

Each finalist was asked to bring their most treasured possession on stage and had to tell the crowd of spectators and panel of judges why they should be the Faces of Croydon 2005.

Seven-year-old Hana Viccary won the under 11 category after saying her prized possessions were her toy rabbit and her family.

Hana appeared on stage with her dad Stephen and said she wanted to be a weather girl when she is older. Her dad joked afterwards that she chose that job because weather girls wear a new set of clothes every day.

Ben Everitt, 12, from New Addington, proudly told everyone his most treasured possession was his hair.

The pupil at All Saints School in West Wickham pledged to give £100 of his winnings to his mum Sheila, donate some to charity and spend the rest on himself.

Ben's dad Simon said: "We cannot believe it. It was a great buzz to see him in the final and to see him win it was fantastic."

And 24-year-old Sabrina Coelho, from South Croydon, said it was nerve-racking standing in front of a large crowd.

The law graduate, who is currently job hunting, took a chocolate box given to her by her aunt when she was a baby on stage. She plans to donate some of the money she won to the charity Breast Cancer Research in memory of her aunt who died from the disease.

All three winners received £500 and a professional portrait session by former Mirror photographer John Dempsie.

The runners-up in the under 11 and under 18 categories received £150 or £100 in Virgin and Debenhams vouchers. And the runners-up in the 18 plus group won vouchers to spend at Rush hairdressers.

And while the finals were the highlight of the day there were also plenty of activities to entertain shoppers.

Models took the latest high-street fashions to the catwalk at three fashion shows.

Students from the Brit School had people stopping in their tracks as they performed a series of dances complete with acrobatic flips and turns and there was breakdancing by the Funkology dance troupe.

On the second floor a string quartet played classical numbers, and there were also beauty demonstrations, face-painting, games and children's activities.