Who woulda thought the world of American wheelchair beauty pageants could turn ugly?

Apparently Ms Wheelchair Wisconsin (no, we're not making it up) found herself stripped of her crown this week, after photographers snapped her - shock, horror - standing up!

The lovely Janeal Lee, who has muscular dystrophy, lost her title after the pictures - which revealed that she could walk short distances - were printed in her local paper. A steering committee led by the pageant state coordinator, herself a former Ms Wheelchair Wisconsin, decided the revelation might offend women who have to use their wheelchairs all the time.

"The way they see it, you're either 100 per cent disabled or 0 per cent disabled, when in reality everyone is somewhere in between," said Lee.

But Judy Hoits, from the Wheelchair America Board of Directors, which is backing the decision, insisted: "We can't have title holders out there walking when they're seen in public."

How terribly unseemly that would be.