'We're hair for you': Celebrity hairdresser Royston Blythe helps thousands of NHS workers get a new look

Salons reopened up and down the land on Saturday, and yesterday marked National Hair Sunday, a campaign Royston launched to give free haircuts to frontline workers during the coronavirus pandemic.

The stylist, who runs his Royston Blythe hair salons in Shrewsbury and Wolverhampton with partner Nick Malenko, started asking other hairdressers to get on board at the start of April, shortly after lockdown began. Thousands of salons got on board including huge chains Francesco Group and Toni & Guy.

The kind-hearted gesture also coincided with the 72nd birthday of the National Health Service.

Royston, who stars with Nick on ITVBe series Real Housewives of Cheshire, has styled many celebrities including Katy Perry, Antonio Banderas and Lily Cole.

He said: "All the staff decided to come in and work voluntarily to give something back to those NHS staff who have been working so hard and saving lives. Both our shops were fully booked within the first few hours of saying we were doing this.

"People have been waiting for haircuts for so long that most will need a complete restyle. Because of the demand and social distancing, we had to split the day into two shifts. Half the team are in at 8am and the other half work 3pm to 10pm. We got all the PPE we needed and got everything set up to be as safe as we possibly can.

"The NHS staff have been working so hard and I'm just glad we can give them a little treat."