A MAN who was growing his dreadlocks for10 years has shaved them off in a bid to raise money for specialist wheelchair rugby equipment.

David Burns, 60, is a partial wheelchair user and has set himself a target of £1000 for the club which was set up early last year.

David’s hope was that the money raised could go towards buying new chairs for the Dorset Destroyers which cost on average £2,800.

The four-a-side team has 17 players in total and the list is growing as players are being put on a waiting list while the club finds the funds for more chairs.

David said: “We could have twice as many members if we had the chairs for them.”

David’s wife, mother, landlord, other members of the club and the clubs co-founder Sue Coombs gathered in Hairvisions in Bere Regis to support David.

This is the first time in over a decade that David has been without his dreadlocks that he insists that his wife encouraged him to grow.

Once the dreadlocks were cut off with scissors, David opted for a grade one cut to tidy up his new hairdo.

After the ordeal was over David said: “I feel lighter and it feels really nice actually, it’s also strange, but I have to admit that over the last three months I have been thinking about it and the dreadlocks had started to get really annoying. I’m really glad I’ve had it done

“The man who does my hair was really upset but he said ‘it’s for a good cause so that’s okay’.”

Of David’s £1,000 target he has managed to raise around a third of the money he had hoped but said he is still happy that he’s managed to raise something for the club.

Dorset Destroyers team member Jason Serimglia said “I think it’s amazing that he’s done it, every little helps.”