Having never had a haircut, a kind-hearted eight-year-old braved the hairdresser's chair for the first time to help children with cancer.

Millie-Mai Hanger had an incredible 14 inches taken off her long hair so she could donate it to the Little Princess Trust.

She also raised £253 for the trust through sponsorship.

Before the big day Millie-Mai could almost sit on her hair and her mum Scarlett Hanger said the idea for the donation came after Millie-Mai had struggled last summer with her extremely long hair.

"Her hair was so long. We were down at the beach almost every day and she would get sand in it, it got caught in everything and was completely tangled so I asked her if she wanted to get it cut," Miss Hanger said.

She added Millie-Mai was very fond of her hair and at first was hesitant to have it cut - until a friend suggested she donate it to charity.

"We ordered an information pack from the Little Princess Trust and the more she read about it and watched videos about hair donation the more excited she became and she really wanted to do it," she said.

The trust provides free real hair wigs to children who have sadly lost their own hair due to cancer treatment and other illnesses.

Miss Hanger said she knew Millie-Mai needed to have at least seven inches cut off to be able to donate to the trust and decided to "go with the flow" when it came to deciding how much she was going to have cut.

"She was really excited in the run up but on the day she was really nervous," Miss Hanger said. "But as soon as they did the first chop, then she went for it."

When she finally got in the chair at Zen Hair and Beauty in Surrey Close, with the support of her mum, grandmother, sister Daisy and her friend, Millie-Mai decided to have 14 inches taken off her long locks.

If donated hair measures longer than 12 inches, the trust is able to make it into a long wig and so Millie-Mai's donation will hopefully help another child to have long hair like hers.

"I cried," Miss Hanger said. "I'm just so proud of her. She's never really had a proper hair cut and her hair has always been a big deal for her. But once she knew who it would be for and what it would mean she really wanted to do it."

She added Millie-Mai, who turned nine four days after her haircut, has already talked about having her hair cut for the trust again.

"I think this might be a thing she keeps on doing," Miss Hanger said.