Miss Vietnam 2002 is missing, but it was not clear if she had been kidnapped, police in the northern Vietnamese port city of Hai Phong said on Tuesday.

Miss Vietnam 2002 Pham Thi Mai Phuong is missing.  [Reuters]

"She has disappeared for a week now. We are working on details of the case," said a policewoman in Ngo Quyen District in Hai Phong City.

Witnesses told police that Pham Thi Mai Phuong, 18, had been forced into a van by several young men as she was leaving her English class at a local language school on August 5, said the officer.

Phuong, a high school senior, was catapulted to fame when she won the reinstated national beauty contest last year. She represented Vietnam at the Miss World contest that was originally held in Nigeria but was moved to London due to protests.

Communist Vietnam had discouraged such competitions for some years as a promotion of undesirable values.

The teenager had recently been awarded a scholarship to study business management at Luton University in England.

Police said it seemed unlikely that Phuong was kidnapped for money as no ransom has been demanded and Phuong had been allowed to call home to tell her parents she is well.

Phuong's family could not be reached for comment.

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