LYING around a draughty office in her underwear might not be the best way to get any work done – but it has earned Katie Flaxman a place in the limelight.

LYING around a draughty office in her underwear might not be the best way to get any work done – but it has earned Katie Flaxman a place in the limelight.

A picture of the 20-year-old Mildenhall office worker reclining semi-clad amid oversized stationery has won her the title of Office Angel 2002 for Maxim magazine.

Although Katie insists she does not normally lay on her desk in her undies clutching a huge pencil, that did not seem to matter to readers of the men's magazine who picked her out of a spread of 12 office beauties who appeared in January's edition.

Katie, who lives in Mundford, near Thetford in Norfolk, said seeing herself in the sexy picture was a big surprise.

"Seeing myself in Maxim in my underwear was a bit of a shock at first, but I have had a lot of positive feedback," she said.

"When I went down to London for the photo shoot in July with the other finalists and saw some of the really pretty girls in next to nothing, I didn't think I'd have a chance.

"Then I actually forgot about it and when they gave me a ring and told me I'd won, I couldn't believe it."

Katie, who works as an imports co-ordinator for Mildenhall's Euro USA Shipping, said boyfriend Dax Harding, 23, urged her to enter.

"I was leafing through a copy of Maxim when I saw it and he said I should go for it.

"Since I was in the magazine, he's had a bit of grief from his friends - and so have I. Most people have been pulling my leg about it," said Katie.

But she has had the last laugh with the prize for the competition, launched last February.

She could be strutting her stuff on the catwalks wearing fashion designers' creations after scooping a modelling contract with a top agency.

"I'm really hoping it will be my springboard into the fashion magazines," she said.

Katie has since had another photo shoot for the magazine and has visited top agency NEVS to talk about her year's modelling contract.

Katie has been with the Sandra Reynolds Model and Casting Agency in Norwich since she was 13, and has appeared in commercial magazines and done promotional work.

Maxim's editor Tom Loxley said: "There were some really gorgeous girls nominated for the competition. Katie is a real Maxim girl - sexy, stunning and rather pleasing to the eye."