A Nottingham woman has received £5,250 in compensation after a hair treatment went horrifically wrong left her looking like a ‘scarecrow’. Charlotte Jones, 27, was left with a burning, raw scalp and straw-like hair after she paid £60 to have her brunette locks bleached blonde at the 28 Boys and Girls salon in Nottingham. Poor Charlotte spent a whopping 11 hours in the salon and received an excessive five separate bleaching treatments after the third one turned her hair bright orange.

Shockingly, the uninsured trainee who botched the dye job tried to convince Charlotte that the treatment was a success. The reality was that it was so bad that she hat to wear a hat for three months and became little more than a social recluse. Soon after the treatment Charlotte’s hair began falling out in clumps, and a hair follicle specialised advised her to start her hair growth from scratch by shaving her hair.

She sued the salon and has just received an out-of-court settlement for £5,250 after a long legal battle. It was in the August of 2009 when Charlotte went to the 28 boys and Girls salon, looking for a makeover after she broke up with her boyfriend of 9 years.

She said: 'After going through the break-up I decided that as blondes were meant to have more fun I'd dye my glossy brown locks at a local salon.

'I'd never coloured my hair before and spent a fortune on keeping it in immaculate condition. So I arranged several consultations and carefully chose a salon I thought I could trust.

'But it turned out I really chose the wrong one. The first time they bleached my hair it turned ginger they then tried to rectify it by bleaching my locks a further four times.

'Eleven hours later my scalp was stinging viciously but the pain was nothing compared to the horror I felt when I saw the finished result.

'My luscious locks were now frazzled and straw-like. I looked like a scarecrow.’

The salon has now accepted full responsibility for the incident, but at the time the salon weren’t as forthcoming with an apology. According to Charlotte, initially the salon refused to take any responsibility, instead blaming the disaster on the trainee. They claimed they had no responsibility as she was a freelancer and not an actual employee of the salon. However, since the alleged freelancer was uninsured and allowed to use the salon facilities, the responsibility lied squarely with them.

Some comments on the story complain that the excess of £5000 is far too much compensation for a bad hair cut. I understand their point of view...I have had a view unfortunate incidences at the hairdressers, including permanent hair dye being dropped on my brand new jeans and one too many inches cut off (that I definitely didn’t ask for). Yet I have never thought about complaining, I just paid for the job, grabbed my coat and went on my way. It’s that over-the-top British politeness I seem to have been lumbered week.

But I completely disagree that Charlotte was not entitled to the compensation she was paid. For a lot of people, their hair forms a part of their identity and a big part of how they feel about themselves. It isn’t being shallow or conceited, it’s about confidence…charlotte didn’t deserve to have her confidence affected, especially since she went to get the makeover after the dissolution of a 9 year relationship. She made the right decision not to accept what she was left with from the 28 Boys and Girls salon and we hope the money goes some way towards settling down with her new boyfriend Jimi.

- This is Gems, Signing off!