A 19-year-old hairdresser who took up a job as a delivery driver during the coronavirus pandemic has now opened her very own salon.

Evie Parsons, from Ormesby, knew she wanted to be a hairdresser since she was a little girl.

And since leaving Flegg High Ormiston Academy in 2018, she has worked hard to make it happen.

“I have had a passion for hair since I can remember,” she said. "I was never really an academic, I was more of a creative, and in school there wasn't really an option for me.

"So I got a Saturday job washing hair and shampooing at a salon in Gorleston. I was there for about a year then they offered me an apprenticeship.

"But I always knew I wanted run my own business."

Now the teen has proven that anything is possible as she opened Madam's Hair and Beauty Consultants, in Church Plain in Great Yarmouth, on March 16.

But the past few years have not been without a few challenges along the way, especially when the coronavirus pandemic hit in 2020.

Miss Parsons was furloughed during the first lockdown and after becoming self-employed later that year, she was forced to take up a job as a delivery driver for a kebab shop to earn some extra cash.

When Covid-19 restrictions eventually lifted she returned to hairdressing full-time and rented a chair at the Colour Lounge in Great Yarmouth.

“When I took the leap to go self-employed, it was really scary because I had no clients," she said. “But my name started getting around and I gained loads of followers on my Instagram and social media accounts.

“I was getting message after message, but I would never turn anyone away. I worked really hard and I started saving as much as I could.”

And through her hard work Miss Parsons finally saved enough money to open a salon.

She was handed the keys in February this year and spent months renovating the site, including the build of a clinic room for beauty treatments.

She added: “I can’t actually believe it. I have always dreamed about this and now it's here.

“It's very overwhelming, but in such a lovely way."