DORSET beauty salons and tattoo studios have been given the green light to reopen on Monday and staff are preparing to welcome customers back and adding new measures to keep them safe.

Lockdown restrictions have been easing and pubs, restaurants, hotels and B&Bs were all able to throw open their doors to welcome customers on July 4. To the frustration and disappointment of some beauty salons, they have been forced to stay shut for an additional nine days but will be able to open on Monday.

Nicole Wright is the shop manager at Elite Tattoo and Piercing in Weymouth. She said: "We are so thankful that we will get some part of the summer season which is what allows us to survive the winter. Being shut for so long has been very hard. All of our tattoo artists are self-employed and haven't had financial support since lockdown started.

"As soon as the government announced the news my phone blew up. I was on the phone from 5pm until midnight on the day it was announced organising appointments for people desperate to get tattoos.

"We haven't had to make too many changes to the studio as our bays are already two metres apart, we normally wear PPE and we always sterilise everything on a regular basis. We are probably more sterile than a lot or places that were able to open weeks before us."

Kate Williams, owner of Mane Road Hair and Beauty in Weymouth, reopened the hairdresser side of the salon on July 4 and will open for beauty treatments on Tuesday. However, half of her businesses involves working on a clients face which, according to guidelines, will not be allowed.

She said: "It's going to be hard on the business because these days a lot of the business is brows and face stuff. We won't be able to do microblading, facial waxing, electrolysis or facials so we are down to nails, a bit of waxing and massage.

"I don't see why we can't do eyebrows because you can cover the customers nose and mouth with a mask and if the therapist has a mask and a visor on then I think it would be fine. It is what it is."

Sharon Page owns Serenity Nails and Beauty in Dorchester. She is excited to get back into her newly refurbished salon. She said: "We are all systems go. We can't do any facials or eyebrows but we will be back to doing nails and I will be so pleased to see our lovely clients.

"We've got all our screens in place, a sanitising machine in the foyer, a temperature gauge to check clients as they come in and they have to wear a mask.

"We've got bespoke PPE with our name on so we've made it part of the business which is great as it doesn't feel so clinical, it feels more relaxed and as best as it can be with a screen in between two people."