AN autistic youngster decided to cut off her dark blonde locks to raise funds for her pre-school.

Harwich Centre Pre-school pupil Ajshe had a lengthy 43cm cut off her hair to donate to The Little Princess Trust.

Ajshe, whose surname had to remain anonymous, had her stunning locks cut off by hairdresser Tania Shurlock in the Adult Community Learning Centre's hair salon.

Tania is the hair and beauty technician for the centre, which the pre-school belongs to.

As well as donating her hair to charity, Ajshe helped fundraise for her pre-school and raised about £100 through sponsorship.

Carole Morgan, pre-school manager, said: "The Little Princess Trust is a wonderful organization who use the donated hair to make wigs for children and young people who have lost their own hair due to illness.

"Ajshe also wanted to take this opportunity to raise funds for her pre-school.

"So parents, staff and the hairdressing students have been sponsoring Ajshe to have her hair cut."

The youngster is autistic so Carole said the hair cut was a huge achievement for Ajshe.

Carole added: "Ajshe had an amazing 43cm cut off of her hair and was accompanied by her key worker Tracy Vincent.

"She loved her hair cut and spent the afternoon swishing her head from side to side, looking in the mirror and comparing her hair to those of her friends."