FOUR hair stylists have helped launch an effort to raise at least £1,000 for breast cancer research.

They wore bright pink outfits as they began collecting cash in the Saks salon in Barnard Castle, County Durham.

Their boss, Simon Folkes, arranged the effort and promised to chip in £10 from every hairdo, as well giving £10 from the sale of every set of hair straighteners.

The team - Lana Rowntree, Claire Robinson, Jemma Richardson and Claire Robinson, helped by Mr Folkes and assistant manager Andrew Shaw - ran a competition asking customers to guess how many sweets were in a jar, and went outside rattling collecting buckets.

Mr Folkes, Mr Shaw, Ms Rowntree and Ms Robinson will take part in a sponsored run on an assault course in Grisedale Forest, in the Lake District, to boost the total.

Mr Folkes said: "We arrange an event every year to raise money for charity, and this time we want to pull in as much as possible for the fight against breast cancer."