A GROUP of Japanese tourists travelled 6,000 miles to the North-East for a haircut - only to find the barber's shop closed.

The group came all the way from Tokyo to visit Durham City barber Terry Moderate, but discovered it was his day off.

Terry, 51, shot to international fame when his shop in Framwellgate Moor, on the outskirts of the city, appeared in the off-beat book, A1 - A Portrait of a Road.

The book tells the story of the famous road between London in Edinburgh in pictures and includes Terry's shop in Front Street.

It topped the bestseller lists in Britain last year and has reached cult status in Japan.

The tourists decided to visit the North-East as part of their tour of Britain and included the barber's shop on their official itinerary.

They wrote to Terry to let them know they would be calling in, but the letter never arrived.

Terry said: "It was unfortunate for them and for me because I missed seeing them."

Terry found out about the visitors from neighbours who had spotted the group taking snaps of the shop.

He said: "A party of Japanese tourists hanging around and taking photographs certainly caused some interest in the village."

By the time Terry returned to work next day, his far-eastern fan club had returned to London