SHE was the teenage catwalk queen whose gaunt and hollow-eyed appearance was dubbed "heroin chic".

Jodie Kidd's skeletal figure led to accusations that she was encouraging teenage girls to starve themselves in a bid to mimic her looks.

But the 6ft 1in supermodel always denied she was anorexic, blaming her bony appearance on a bout of glandular fever.

During a long break from modelling she gained two stone in weight, transforming herself into a healthy size eight.

Today she is carving out a new career as a motor racing driver and made a pit stop in Hampshire yesterday to promote a new scheme that enables drivers to renew their car tax using the telephone or the Internet.

It means motorists no longer have to take their driving documents to a post office to renew their tax.

Jodie, 27, visited the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu, to pose for photographs and admire some of the racing cars on show.

She said: "The new system is so quick and easy. When your tax is due to expire the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency sends you a reminder letter containing a reference number, which you quote on the Internet or over the phone.

"The agency then checks your insurance and MoT electronically via its links to the relevant databases and sends out your new disc."

Jodie added: "For a busy person like me trying to find all my documents and process the application between 9am and 5pm on a weekday is a real hassle.

"Last year my dog chewed up my insurance documents, which made the process even worse.

To use the new car tax renewal service should log on to www.direct.gov.uk/taxdisc or ring 0870 850 4444.