BBC Three is to attempt to make a disabled woman into a top fashion model in a new reality series.

In a variation on the Next Top Model format the show will put eight disabled women together in an apartment. Five hour-long episodes will track them as they are taught about the modelling world and gradually eliminated by judges.

At the end of the series from Love Productions the winner will be professionally photographed for a glossy magazine. It has the provisional title of Britain's Missing Top Model and will air in the summer.

Channel controller Danny Cohen said: "This series aims to challenge the artificial boundaries that seem to exist in the beauty and fashion industries. It would be great if in the future we began to see more disabled models gracing the covers of the world's magazines."

Richard McKerrow, creative director at Love Productions, said he wanted to "empower both the women featured in the project and thousands of others" and "challenge preconceived notions of beauty".