THE owner of a salon named a favourite by Gazette readers says she is "overwhelmed" to have won. 

The Gazette's Your Favourite Hairdressing Salon competition saw readers and members of the public nominate their favourite hair salons across north Essex. 

Five businesses making it through to the final voting stage with Déjà Vu Hair Studio, in Coppins Road, Clacton, being named the best. 

Dina Humphreys, the owner of Déjà Vu Hair Studio, said: "The girls and I at Déjà Vu were very surprised and overwhelmed by the response of our lovely loyal clients who went out of their way to vote for us in the Gazette competition, we certainly didn't think for a minute we'd win."

Generously, the salon has opted to donate the cash prize of £25 to St James Church, an organisation that they work closely with.

Clacton and Frinton Gazette: Salon - Déjà Vu, the winner of the Your Favourite Hairdressing Salon 2023Salon - Déjà Vu, the winner of the Your Favourite Hairdressing Salon 2023 (Image: Google)

Ms Humphreys said: "We always try to raise money and because St James Church is quite close to our hearts and when we saw the Gazette were going to donate to a charity they were our first choice."

Déjà Vu is a part of the Haircuts for Homeless charity scheme that sees employees of the salon cutting hair for free at the Salvation Army and St James Church.

The free haircut sessions run every six to eight weeks on a Saturday night and are usually held hand-in-hand with the church's soup kitchen evenings. 

Ms Humphreys said: "It's nice to give something back and we really do get a lot out of it, just in a couple of hours you get to know these people and they always have a lovely story to tell."

The salon has been involved with the Haircuts for Homeless for more than six years and they will continue to do their bit for the community for many years to come. 

Ms Humphreys added: "We would like to thank each and everyone of you from the bottom of our hearts. We are over the moon.

"Our salon would not be what it is without all your support."

Those final five in the competition were: Aimees' Hairdressing in Witham, Déjà Vu Hair Studio in Clacton, Ree’s Little Hair House in Clacton, Sage Hair Studio in Alresford and Thairapy in Witham.