It has been a good hair day for customers thanks to a barber who has been giving out free haircuts.

Memz barber's in Dartford High Street has had streams of clients coming in to get a fresh hairdo from trainees with the DWP who have been putting their skills to the test.

Owner, Mehmet Ilhan, 39, took on the Job Centre trainees to teach them the basics of cutting hair and learning social skills.

The course is over five weeks and after that the students are guaranteed an interview in the hope of getting a job.

The current cohort is aged from 28 to the oldest in his 50s.

Not only does Mehmet teach his trainees how to do regular cuts he also shows them how to work with Afro hair and how to create intricate shaved patterns.

Mehmet has always wanted to start a training academy. He had already spent £5,000 on refurbishment and hair cutting equipment such as clippers, mannequins and mirrors but he needed more to grow.

He contacted Zoe Dun, one of the founder's of All Shades of Life, an organisation in London and Kent which offers sports clubs and fitness activities for young people, after hearing about it from one of his customers.

Having just started out in 2020, All Shades of Life wasn't able to offer Mehmet any financial help, but pointed him in the direction of the DWP and from April 25, Memz barber's had five new people to train.

Mehmet says he is passionate about cutting hair and wants to share that with people. He believes it is important to learn these skills in a working environment.

He said: "The way I see it, you have to get stuck in – you need to make mistakes and learn from the mistakes."

The free haircuts were well received by customers.

Andrew Francis, 47, said: "I had my hair cut by a young lady this morning. She's done such a blinding job, I'm bringing my boys down to have theirs cut."

Zoe said: "It's a nice environment and you get a good vibe when you come in."

Each day, every learner has styled and cut 10 people's hair which Mehmet said was a lot for trainees.

The students are not guaranteed a job with Mehmet after the training is finished, but they can come back for a second round of training if they wish.

Two days of free haircuts were held last Monday and Tuesday, with more yesterday and the final day today. The barber's is open until 7pm.

All Shades of Life is supporting Mehmet with admin and, eventually, wants to work with him to help younger people who are at risk of gang violence and drug crime.

Zoe said: "We found through meeting people that Dartford is so high in drugs and drug dealing and so we want to target that age group."