Three young girls have shown their support for the Locks of Love campaign by having a substantial haircut.

School friends Ava Gabai-Maiato, 9, and sisters Zoe Hasselkuss, 10, and Jasmin Hasselkuss, 8, all had several inches of hair cut at Liv Salon at the weekend.

The Somersfield Academy pupils got the idea from a friend who had also taken part in the Locks of Love campaign, which provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children with conditions such as cancer.

“When one of my friends turned up to our gymnastics class with very short hair, I asked her why she had cut it,” Ava said.

“It seemed like a good idea and a good cause, so we decided to do the same.”

Ava, Zoe and Jasmin all had about 10 inches of hair cut off yesterday afternoon.

“My head feels quite light now,” Ava said. “But we wanted to do it for the children with cancer who do not have any hair.”

Ava’s mother, Tali Gabai-Maiato, said: “My daughter has been very philanthropic of her own accord this year, having donated all of her birthday money to SPCA in July, creating a lemonade stand and donating profits to SPCA, and now coming up with the idea to cut her hair to give to children with cancer.”