A fundraising drive has been launched to help a hair-dressing salon hit by ram-raiders on New Year's Day.

Thieves escaped with a haul of £3,500 of equipment after smashing their way through the glass doors of Mark Mardell Hair Salon in Market Street, Dartford, on a moped.

Mr Mardell spoke of his despair in the aftermath of the raid, but there's now hope that the business can bounce back after a fundraising page was set up by long-standing customer Daniel Francis.

The GoFundMe page notes how the business was first established by Mark's grandfather and has become a fixture in Dartford town centre.

Mr Francis adds: "They have been cutting mens, womens and childrens hair for 4 or 5 generations of people, overcoming World War 2, economic depression in the 80's, having to move their from their original shop due to redevelopment, a huge water leak only a couple of years ago that flooded the entire shop destroying everything and closing the business for a year and more recently the horrendous affect that all businesses experienced due to Covid 19, which Salons across the country it seems, were hit harder than the average shop having to close for far longer.

"And yet they survived. Just about. The recent lockdowns brought the future of the Mardell salon into question, raising concerns that the 90 years worth of lineage and dedication to the people of Dartford might have to end.

"But Mark refused to allow that to happen. The recent death of the previous owner, Marks Father Melvyn, was a huge blow to not only him and his family and friends but to the community as a whole. Having been a staple in Dartford for over 50 years, Mark couldn't allow a little thing like a global pandemic be the end of his business and families legacy.

"So he fought hard, risked everything to plough on, devising new services and exciting promotions to rebuild his cherished salon only to have some thieving, criminal, thugs feel that it was ok to destroy the front of his shop, the wooden flooring inside, steal thousands in GHD products and smashing display cabinets.

"This has meant that at a time straight after Christmas and with the threat of another potential lockdown hanging over him, Mark and his family and his amazing staff need the money the most and they are now forced to close."

The page target has been set at £1,500 but Mr Francis suggests £10,000 will be needed to help cover the cost of the losses.

And he adds: "if you can find it in your hearts to donate anything to help, anything at all will hopefully mean that Mardells stays a place where we can all go to make us look good for a daily lives and our most special occasions for many years to come.

"So dig deep people and share this with as many others as you can.

"Lets keep the 'Mardells' salon alive!"