A Kingston woman celebrated her 33rd birthday by lopping off her locks to raise money for the Royal Marsden Cancer Campaign.

Amanda Russell has raised more than £2,000 already and also donated her hair to the Little Princess Trust, a charity which supplies wigs for children.

One of Amanda’s friends died from cancer on April 4 last year and, as the first anniversary approached, Amanda was determined to raise money in her memory.

Hairdresser Ben Forrest did the deed, which took less than 15 minutes to totally transform Amanda’s appearance.

She said: “I didn’t really think about what I was going to look like as this was so important to me. Everyone has been really supportive.”

Amanda’s hair cascaded down her back before the chop and was more than the 25cm required by the Little Princess Trust to make a wig.

The trust has more than a thousand donations a year and helps 400 children.

Simon Tarplee, one of the founders, said: “We get quite a lot of hair donations mainly through word of mouth and finding out on the internet.”

It was not the first time that Ben, who has a salon at Esporta in Kingston, has shaved a head for charity.

Amanda’s hair has not taken long to start growing again but Ben said: “Her hair was about 23in long when she came in and it will be at least seven years before it grows back to the same length.”

Amanda has set up an online fundraising page at justgiving.com/randymuscle1 and the Big Shave can be viewed at youtube.com/watch?v=33zRNz78lic.