A WOMAN who said she was left looking like 'Worzel Gummidge' after a hair treatment went awry has won a settlement from her hairdresser.

Mary Ingram, of Meyrick Park, Bournemouth, took the Canford Cliffs-based Dune Hair and Beauty Salon to court after her hair "snapped off" following an appointment 18 months ago.

Ms Ingram said she was asked if she would like a cleansing product applied to her hair before it was coloured.

The product – which she later discovered was L'Oreal's Efassor – was improperly applied, she believes, and resulted in extensive damage to her blonde hair.

Speaking after a judge at Bournemouth County Court found for her, Ms Ingram said: "It states clearly on the packet that a strand and allergy test should be performed before the product is applied, and that it shouldn't be applied to damaged hair.

"However, at court it was openly admitted that my hair is damaged, and I wasn't offered an allergy test."

After her appointment, Ms Ingram spent a month in Scotland, where strands of her hair broke off centimetres from her crown.

She was refused compensation and decided to take the company to court, representing herself.

Harley Street trichologist Dr Hugh Rushton, a court-appointed expert witness, reported: "It is my opinion that on the balance of probability the standard of hairdressing fell below that expected from a competent UK hairdresser."

Ms Ingram said: "It was a huge amount of money to hire a solicitor, so I thought I'd have a go at representing myself. It was very scary but I'm so glad I did it."

Ms Ingram was awarded £4,500 by Dune's insurer.

She said: "I want to warn other people to get a skin test done before any unknown product is applied to their hair.

"For a while, I looked like Worzel Gummidge."

Salon owner Shane Eyers said: "Ms Ingram had a treatment applied to her hair to specifically remove unwanted build up of historical colour prior to becoming a client of Dune Hairdressing.

"A professional L'Oreal treatment was performed which has been used within our industry for more than 20 years.

"When Ms Ingram left the salon she was very happy with her hair and there was no breakage."

He said the salon had no knowledge of a problem until she returned a month later. He said the same cleansing treatment had been carried out to her hair before with no problem.

"The salon is very safety conscious and always follows manufacturer's guidelines. This is the first incident in the history of the salon’s operation," he added.

A spokesperson from L'Oreal said: “Efassor is a product for professional use only and instructions provided must be followed carefully.”