An Alton Towers Smiler victim who lost her leg in the theme park crash has painted her scars gold in a stunning new photo shoot.

Vicky Balch, of Leyland, Lancashire, was forced to amputate her right leg following the horrific rollercoaster smash in June 2015.

The 23-year-old has struggled with body confidence in the years since the accident but wanted to celebrate her natural beauty with the striking new images.

Posing without her prosthetic limb, Miss Balch donned a gold swimsuit and painted her scars in shimmering metallic gold for the shoot with photographer Murat Ozkasim.

Dazzling: Vicky Balch had her right leg amputated following the Alton Towers Smiler crash in June 2015. She painted her scars in metallic gold paint for a stunning new photo shoot celebrating her natural beauty. The shoot was based on the ancient Japanese art of Kintsugi, which sees broken pottery repaired through a paint technique that highlights the cracks

Graceful: Posing without her prosthetic limb, Miss Balch donned a gold swimsuit and painted her scars in shimmering metallic gold for the shoot with photographer Murat Ozkasim

Moving forward: The 23-year-old has struggled with body confidence in the years since the accident but wanted to celebrate her natural beauty with the striking new images

The shoot was based on the ancient Japanese art of Kintsugi, which sees broken pottery repaired with gold, silver, or platinum powder to create dazzling lines that highlight the cracks and breaks in an artefact, rather than trying to conceal them.

Similarly, the metallic gold paint used in Miss Balch's shoot is designed to highlight the differences in her physical appearance.

She said: 'Doing this shoot portrays what I have wanted to get across since my accident; no matter how "broken" or different you are, you can be who you want to be, even with the scars and imperfections.

'Body confidence was a big issue for me when my life changed and I am now learning to love who I am even though it is different to what, even I used to consider as "normal".'

Personal struggle: Miss Balch, pictured before the June 2015 crash, said she is learning to love herself and her body again following the amputation of her right leg

Disaster strikes: Miss Balch and Leah Washington from Barnsley, South Yorkshire, were both forced to undergo leg amputations as a result of the horror crash, pictured

The shoot was organised by specialist model agency, Zebedee Management, which was established to increase the representation of people with disabilities.

Miss Balch continued: 'Zebedee have helped me increase my self-confidence by helping us models do what we want when nobody else would and I'm grateful for everything they do and continue to do for me and I'm glad to say I have met a lot of people who I wouldn't have.'

Zoe Proctor, of Zebedee Management, said the company wanted to look at the tradition of Kintsugi and how it could be applied to people.

She said: 'We wondered what it would be like if we thought of ourselves in the same way? That our scars and marks only go to highlight our beauty and uniqueness? It was this thought that became the inspiration for our shoot.'

It emerged yesterday that Miss Balch, pictured in 2016, and Leah Washington from Barnsley, South Yorkshire, are planning to sue the owners of Alton Towers for millions of pounds

It emerged yesterday that Miss Balch and Leah Washington from Barnsley, South Yorkshire, are planning to sue the owners of Alton Towers for millions of pounds.

Both women were in the front row when the 'Smiler' ride rammed into a stationary carriage in 2015.

Miss Balch's lawyers claim the injuries she sustained were due to the 'negligence and or breach of statutory duty' of Merlin Attractions Operations Ltd.

The claim to the High Court this week accuses the firm of 'failing to take any or any adequate care to ensure the reasonable safety of the Claimant whilst on the Smiler.'

It is understood that the filing of a claim at this stage is a purely procedural step taken by the claimants to protect their position, but it has been estimated by legal experts that they could be entitled to around £2 million.

Meanwhile Meera Chauhan and her daughter Vanisha Singh, who were also in the crash, have filed their own legal action, which cites the psychological effects of the crash.