TWO sisters had their prized pigtails cut off in a show of support for a little boy suffering from a rare form epilepsy.

Grace Stanley, aged seven, and her five-year-old sibling Florence, had their long locks chopped off by a teacher during an assembly at Sedgefield Primary School, in Sedgefield, County Durham, this week.

The brave girls had just more than 12 inches cut from their long hair to send to The Little Princess Trust, which makes wigs for children suffering from hair loss.

As well as offering an invaluable gift to sick children, they raised almost £800 in sponsorship for close family friend Toby Whitehead, who suffers from a lifelong form of epilepsy called Dravet syndrome.

Toby’s mother Mel Whitehead, of Tollerton, North Yorkshire, said: “What the girls have done is so lovely and thoughtful, they are such caring girls and we really appreciate what they have done for Toby. We’re so very proud of them and can’t thank them enough.”

Toby was diagnosed as a baby with the condition which causes him to suffer prolonged or frequent seizures.

Currently he is at risk of having seizures at night and stays in his parents’ room.

Money raised by the sisters will help the Whitehead family purchase a high tech video monitoring system to allow them to put Toby to bed in his own room and feel reassured that he is safe.

Grace and Florence’s mother Kate Stanley said: “It was all Grace’s idea and my first reaction was ‘no, please not your hair’.

“But she had made the decision, she was doing it. Not only that, she’d convinced Florence to do it too.

“I quickly realised how selfish I was to feel sad about them losing their hair. Hair grows back - their hair will no doubt change a hundred times by the time they are my age.

“I’m incredibly proud of them because it has 100 per cent been their choice and I realise I have two independent, kind-hearted girls.”

Mrs Stanley, 36, of Sedgefield, went to school with Mrs Whitehead and the two families are good friends.

In the two years since Toby’s diagnosis, Mrs Stanley has run the Great North Run in support of him, her husband Richard Stanley has braved a skydive.

The couple have also thrown a 70s-inspired party to help raise funds.

A class teacher took the shears to the girls’ pigtails on Thursday while classmates chanted “chop, chop, chop”.

“We wanted to do something for Toby to help make him better and make him happy,” said Grace.

Cash raised will also go towards resources for when he starts school in September.