A GWENT hairdresser is finally hanging up his scissors after 51 years of trimming and clipping.

Gino Alonzi, 66, who runs Gino's Hairdressers on Station Road, Caerleon, cut his last head of hair this weekend.

He said: "I've been doing this for many years now, man and boy, and I feel it's time to stop. The legs are not as good as they used to be.

"Back when I started there were more hairstyles, but it's all numbers now, either ones or twos or threes."

Gino's family, originally from Italy, moved to Britain in 1876. They settled in Edinburgh, but his father moved to Newport in the 1930s to work as a mosaic floor tiler. Both of Gino's brothers followed their father into the profession, but Gino's mother had different ideas for him.

"My dad and brothers would come home from work filthy, and mum would have to wash their clothes. So she told my brothers to find me a clean job to do because she was fed up of washing. That's how I came to be a hairdresser - it was a clean profession."

Gino now plans to spend more time with his wife Angelina and his family: "We've got three children and four grandchildren all spread out across the country, so we'll be visiting them a lot more. I also have an allotment, and I'll get to spend more time there now. I'm just looking forward to relaxing."

"I'll miss the chit chat with the customers the most. I've cut the hair of three generations of families from around the area, and you get to know people. On the one hand I'll miss it, but on the other hand I'm glad to be retiring because I'm getting tired."

Gino handed over the business to 31-year-old Joanne Knowlton on the weekend. She began working in the shop earlier this year.

Gino said: "I want to thank all my customers for their support given to me over many years.

"I hope that they will all give Joanne the same support."