Pet shop assistant Melissa Jeacock made a hair-raising for her little niece - when she had her head shaved.

The 21-year-old, who works for Money and Friends Pet Shop in Abingdon, has raised more than £100 for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust - and hopes as many people as possible ask her why she now has no hair.

She wants to raise awareness of the illness, which affects her two-year-old niece Leah Graham. Melissa, of Sherwood Avenue, Abingdon, vowed: "I won't be wearing a hat or anything like that and, if people ask me why I've got my head shaved, I shall tell them all about cystic fibrosis.

"I'm obviously very close to my sister and little Leah and decided this was as good a way as any of drawing attention to it. "People think I'm mad, but I have raised a lot of money and that's the important thing."

Hair salon Reflexions, just yards away from the pet shop in Bath Street, agreed to chop Melissa's hair off for her. Melissa's sister Selina and Leah, who live in Abingdon, were among the onlookers.

Story date: Tuesday 13 April

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