LONDON - MISS England Rachel Christie stepped down on Friday to clear her name following an alleged punch-up in a nightclub with a rival beauty queen.

Christie is alleged to have attacked Miss Manchester in a row over a beefy television personality called Tornado. Christie has been arrested on suspicion of assault.

Christie, 21, is the athlete niece of British Olympic 100m gold medallist Linford Christie and was crowned the first black Miss England in July. She specialises in the heptathlon and the 400m and is hoping to qualify for the 2012 London Olympic Games.

Sara Beverley Jones, 24, was allegedly punched in the face after arguing about Tornado, Royal Marine Commando David McIntosh, who appears in the Gladiators combat programme. Reports said McIntosh is Christie's boyfriend but used to date Jones, and London's Evening Standard newspaper said the beauty queens began brawling after Jones showed Christie a provocative text message she clamed was from McIntosh.

Greater Manchester Police said they were called to the city's Mansion nightclub at around 1am on Monday, and Christie was arrested on suspicion of assault and was bailed until January 2010.

Miss England runner-up Lance Corporal Katrina Hodge, a British Army soldier decorated for bravery fighting in Iraq, has been promoted in Christie's place. -- AFP