A PASSIONATE hairdresser has pledged to persevere with her trade – despite having already passed pension age.

Wendy Hayes and her team at Gemini Hair in Abingdon celebrated the business's 45th birthday this month, and marked the occasion with a champagne-fuelled shindig.

Miss Hayes, who lives above the salon, opened her business in Stert Street in 1972.

The 69-year-old said: "It's sociable and I've made a lot of friends through it.

"I just love hair. If I'm looking at someone and their hair is a mess, I'll think about what I want to do with it.

"I can't imagine not doing hair.

"I have no plans to retire. I've had a hip replacement but I've still never had more than two weeks off work at a time."

Miss Hayes has tasked herself with transforming the town's tresses one head at a time, and has endured testing economic times since opening.

She said: "In 1974 we had a miners' strike and were only allowed to use three hours' of electricity a day.

"It was all shampoos and sets back in that day. The majority of clients used to go home [with wet hair] and lean in front of the fire.

"It's been hard at times but you just have to hang in there.

"People can be quite negative about what Abingdon has to offer – Stert Street has changed an awful lot but it's always had quite individual shops."

She celebrated with staff and clients, some of whom have stuck with her as their trusted hairdresser since the very beginning, with a party at the salon earlier this month.