A salon owner who lost her best friend in the "most evil way possible" feels more still needs to be done to raise awareness of domestic violence 10 years after the tragedy.

Natalie Esack was just 33 when she was murdered by her estranged husband Ivan Esack in 2012 while working at her hair salon in Ashford high street.

She was stabbed 11 times as she desperately tried to escape into the shop's basement.

Her apprentice at the time, Chelsea Ford, says still more needs to be done to support people like Natalie who experience domestic abuse every day.

"It doesn’t feel like 10 years, it feels like yesterday," she said.

"The moment I wake up I think about her and every night I go through it.

"It will never get easier because we lost someone so special in the most evil way possible.

"The fact that families are still going through the same thing upsets me.

"People don’t realise how people can hide what's going on at home and there is not enough awareness about it.

"Ten years on and the statistics are still just as high."

Ivan Esack, a former Maidstone police detective, was found guilty of murder in January 2013 and ordered to serve a minimum 28 years in jail.

An independent review of the authorities' handling of the domestic violence leading up to the murder flagged up a raft of concerns.

It said police could have arrested Esack for sending "malicious communications" to Natalie; they also didn't act on Natalie's report that her estranged husband might harm himself, or that he had been carrying a knife when he went to her address.

There had been evidence of an increasing rate of domestic violence in the months leading up to the fatal attack, the report revealed.

Six months after Natalie's death, Miss Ford set up her own salon, Nat'ural Hair Design in North Street, in memory of the woman who taught her everything.

The salon is now a decade old and to mark the occasion, Miss Ford is today holding a fundraising event to support domestic abuse charities with a raffle, games and goodie bags.

"I wasn’t sure if I wanted to celebrate at first but then I thought, why don’t I celebrate and raise money at the same time," said the 28-year-old from Woodchurch.

"It's the perfect combination and I think Natalie would be proud of us doing this.

'She wasn't just my boss, she was my best friend...'

"Once we have raised the money, 100% of all the proceeds will be split between domestic abuse charities locally.

"We just want to help people, that’s the point of the salon, to help people feel good.

"I can’t stop it, but I can help raise awareness and that’s the way I have to look at it.

"It has been nice to do my own journey in memory of her legacy.

"She wasn't just my boss, she was my best friend."

The event, which is open to everyone, runs from 3pm to 8pm.

Many of the prizes for the raffle have been donated by local businesses and include gift vouchers and services at the salon.