A HAIRDRESSER has told how she repeatedly flouted rules to continue cutting hair throughout the UK lockdown.

The Eastbourne woman, under the fake name Deb Taylor, said it was the only way she was able to pay the bills as salons were forced to shut to stop the spread of coronavirus.

The 35-year-old told a national newspaper: “I know it’s banned. But because I don’t qualify for government assistance, it’s the only way I can pay rent and bills, and my clients have been unrelenting.

“It could increase the risk of me or my clients contracting Covid-19 but when you’re facing financial ruin and losing clients, there is no choice.”

Secretary of State Dominic Raab has said that the earliest hairdressers could be allowed to open is July.

As a self-employed worker, Deb was ineligible for the Government’s furlough scheme.

She was also unable to claim from the Covid-19 income support scheme as she only began working as a freelancer in February.

So, she continued to work covertly.

For one appointment, she was even told by a client to “bring a parcel so it looks like you are a courier - and use the back gate”.

Deb said: “I was devastated I didn’t qualify for the taxable grant.

“I’ve applied for universal credit but it is still being processed.”

She said she uses disposable drapes and disinfects her face and hands before appointments, as well as cleaning her scissors in front of her clients.

One of her clients, a 58-year-old grandmother also from Eastbourne, said Deb “follows more cleanliness procedures than a doctor’s surgery”.

She said: “My splurge is my haircut and colouring every four weeks and I begged Deb to come to do it.

“Seeing her ­boosted my spirits. Neither of us has been sick.”