A DARLINGTON business women who confesses to being mad on hats is opening a new hat hire shop in the town.

June Jordinson, owner of June's Hat Hire, said she was out of work after becoming fed up with her job as a secretary, when hats began to enter her life.

She said: "I came across a stall outside a shop selling hats and then later I had to buy a hat for my daughter's wedding. I was thinking of different types of employment and it struck me that hiring hats might be a good idea."

That was in 1988 and Ms Jordinson has gone from hiring out four hats to now offering a choice from over 600.

For nearly ten years she ran the business from her home in Salters Lane South and then moved to Haughton.

Now she also hires out wedding outfits, corsages, bags, shoes - and of course lots of hats.

"We get a lot of people coming in to get a hat for Ascot or other race meetings. Sometimes people come in who have been awarded an OBE or other honour and are going to meet the Queen. For them we try to find hats that are not too over the top," she added.

June's Hat Hire opens on September 9 in Borough Road.