A SCHOOLGIRL has had her first-ever proper haircut in aid of a very good cause – allowing 17 inches of her much-loved locks to be chopped off to be used to make wigs for children suffering with cancer.

Tegan Reynolds, six, had only ever had her hair trimmed a handful of times before she succumbed to the scissors for her first proper hair-cut this month.

She had her brown tresses, which fell to the tops off her legs, cut to a shoulder-length bob after hearing that ill children needed donations of hair which could be made into wigs.

Tegan, who attends Kempshott Infant School, had her hair cut at Trilbys Barber Shop & Hairdressers, in Wote Street, Basingstoke.

Her mum Laura, 28, works for St Michael’s Hospice as a health care assistant for the hospice at home service. She said she was able to explain to Tegan how the hair would benefit others.

Laura, of Grampian Way, Buckskin, Basingstoke, said: “Tegan knows I work with poorly people and she understands that sometimes people who are ill can lose their hair.

“She was nervous before she had her hair cut. She sometimes says she misses having long hair now but she’s getting used to her new style. I’m very proud of her.”

Laura has sent the hair to charity Little Princess Trust, which provides real-hair wigs to boys and girls across the UK and Ireland who have lost their own hair through cancer treatment.

She said: “There are lots of people who have a substantial amount of hair cut off but don’t know it can be used by the charity. It’s important to raise awareness of the good that that hair could do.”