A BARBER opened his doors at midnight today as a thank you to loyal customers who supported him through lockdown.

Tony Jayman, owner of Tony Mann's in Giffnock, decided to start cutting hair as soon as he was allowed to on the first day of hairdressers and other establishments in Scotland reopening.

His East Renfrewshire barber shop will be open for 24 hours with the 24-year-old also fully booked with appointments for the following fortnight.

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He previously told our sister paper, the Glasgow Times,: “I’m dying to cut hair again so I thought, why not start doing it again the exact date and time that I can?

“I wanted to get straight back to it but I’m also really eager to start making money again.”

Between Tony and his other barber, the pair have said they are fully prepared for a busy wave as they reopen with nearly 100 appointments in the book on their first day back.

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He added: “For the first night we have around 90 bookings already on our system between us.

“Our first appointment is literally at 12.01am. I’m fully, fully booked you can’t get a slot in 24 hours with me.

“Actually, you can’t even get a booking with me for two weeks now I’m completely packed.

“I’m 100 per cent prepared for this busy wave. We’ve been looking forward to it.”

Prior to the coronavirus outbreak, every corner of Tony’s shop would be filled with dozens of customers waiting their turn for a trim.

Now, in complying with the government health guidelines, Tony has put in place a half-hour booking system.

He said: “What will be different now I suppose is we can’t have people in the shop waiting for their hair to be trimmed.

“We used to have people sitting on the window, up the back and just where they’d fit waiting for a space so that will be different.

“Busy for me then felt really, really busy but busy for me now will probably feel a lot different.”

Hand sanitiser stations have been installed across the shop with social distancing rules also reinforced.

Customers will also have the option to buy face masks and bottles of hand sanitiser to take away.

Tony added: “I’m a little bit nervous considering all the new guidelines and everything but I do feel confident. I know my business and I know how to run it so that obviously helps.

“I know things will be different but I’m so excited to get back.”

Tony - who opened his shop four years ago at the age of just 20 - hailed coffee and Red Bull to get him through a full 24 hours on his first day back in business.

He said: “I’m going to be done in but I’ve not worked in a long time so I’ll have that behind me as willpower... coffee and Red Bull will do the trick.”