MEN can get their hair cut in the early hours of the morning at a barber shop in Oxfordshire planning to reopen as soon as the Government gives it the green light.

Andy Willis, owner of Andy's Barber Shop, in Bicester, hopes to open doors to his shop at one minute past midnight on July 4.

His team of barbers are waiting for more guidance from the Government and are preparing on how to make the shop safe or 'Covid-Secure'.

Mr Willis said: "We've been inundated with pictures from people doing home haircuts and they don't look great. There's a lot of men who want to get their hair cut.

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"We have a large team and there's no doubt that we are the biggest barber shop in Oxfordshire.

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"We have ten cutting stations and plan to use every other chair so social distancing won't be a problem.

"We're waiting on the Government to let us know how many barbers can be in the shop and also what PPE we will need to use."

The barber will also only be taking cashless payments which Mr Willis hopes clients will be pleased with.

The Government says businesses such as pubs, cinemas and hairdressers will not open until Step 3 of its adjustment to social distancing measures plan has been reached.

The assumption is that this step will be no earlier than July 4 and subject to further detailed scientific advice, but when they do reopen, they should also meet the Covid-19 secure guidelines.

Mr Willis wants to do all that he can to make sure his shop is safe and that customers are confident about the environment that they get their haircuts in.

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He added: "None of my staff have had any Covid-19 symptoms. What we'll do is get the team in for training a few days before we open so that they know the new procedures and standards.

"The shop is big and we even have an upstairs area. The team will be well organised and we'll take every measure properly because our clients need that.

"We have had the salon decorated from top to bottom and will be going above and beyond for our clients."

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The owner and one other barber will be cutting hair from 12.01am to 6.30am where the rest of his team will take over, finishing at 5pm.

Mr Willis added: "We think there will be a lot of people in the town centre when things start opening again, so we've decided to open at midnight to dilute the queue during the day."

The shop, which originally opened in January 2008 in Sheep Street and moved to a bigger unit in Pioneer Square in August 2017, will be open everyday from 7.45am to 5pm including Sundays for the first few months from 10am to 4pm.

Andy's Barber Shop won Barber Shop of the Year in 2019 and the Cherwell Retail Award in 2016.