HAIRDRESSERS across the area are reporting being booked out for weeks as they prepare to open to clients from this Saturday (July 4) after over three months of lockdown.

With social distancing measures still in place, hairdressers are staggering appointments and have fewer stylists and customers in the salon at any one time.

Dawn Pitts, owner of Quinns Hairdressing in Okehampton, is reopening on Monday (July 6), after a trial run for her staff on the Sunday with special free haircuts for NHS staff.

Dawn will be open seven days a week, early and late to accommodate as many clients from her list as she can, as she can only have five stylists at any one time.

‘When you think we has been three months and we were already a salon that is fully booked, and every stylist has six or seven clients a day, it will be difficult for sure but we are going to be opening seven days a week and we will have late nights every night,’ she said.

‘We will have five stylists maximum in the salon, normally we would have up to nine stylists at a time, so to try to fit more people in we are working until 9pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays.’

She said special hygiene measures would be in place, with a receptionist taking people’s temperature when they come into the salon and asking them to wash their hands in hand sanitiser. They will then be given a mask to wear during their visit.

The staff meanwhile, will be wearing visors. For the moment too, they are unable to serve tea and coffee to their customers.

Dawn added: ‘We definitely won’t be seating clients side by side. We are going to seat them diagonally, two metres apart. Like everyone, we will be taking it all really seriously and we are going above and beyond on the government guidelines. It is about minimising every kind of risk.’

In Hatherleigh, Gwen Piddington, owner of salon No 10, has also been busy preparing for opening on Saturday (July 4). ‘We are fully booked for the first three weeks and then we have a few slots free.

‘We are booked into August as well as some of our elderly clients don’t want to be here intially but do want to come in August, which is great really because it spreads things out a little.

She added: ‘Our staff will be wearing visors and masks and we will initially be asking our customers to come in wearing masks.

‘We will also be temperature testing initially and also temperature testing the staff three times a day. We won’t be serving coffee and tea, either, for the first three weeks.’