A HAIRDRESSER is hoping to win a prestigious national competition.

Naomi Hemming, co-owner of Avant Garde Salon in Berkeley Way, Warndon, Worcester, is in the running to be named the nation’s favourite hairdresser.

More than 100 people voted for the 26-year-old senior designer, who is the only stylist from Worcestershire to make it through, and she is now hoping to make it to the grand final. If she impresses at the live contest in London she will walk away with £2,000 cash, a year’s supply of hair products and a starring role in a glossy magazine photoshoot.

Miss Hemming, of Littleworth, near Worcester, said: “When I found out I’d been nominated I was excited, but I didn’t think I’d get anywhere. When I found out I was in the final 25 I was shocked. I never expected it.”

Miss Hemming trained to be a hair stylist after leaving Pershore High School and had dreamed of owning her own salon since childhood.

She made the final rounds of the Head and Shoulders- sponsored contest after one of her clients submitted a letter to judges saying why Miss Hemming deserved to win.

To help her reach the grand final vote online at tinyurl.com/naomi-nfh.