A MAN was left with a blistered ear after being burnt during a haircut that went awry.

Matt Thomas, of Basingstoke, visited the Turkish barbers in Church Street just after midday on Saturday, September 28, for a routine haircut.

The 28-year-old said he has used the shop four or five times now. But on this occasion, at the end of the haircut, when the barber used a flame stick to singe the hairs around his ear, it was his ear itself that ended up being burnt.

“They normally hold it a good 2-3cm away from the ear but not on this occasion,” he said

“I don’t know if he got distracted or anything, but I’ve said, ‘oh, you’ve burned my ear.’

Matt added: “I touched my ear and I thought it was a bit of hair, but it was actually a bit of skin that came off.

“He said, ‘don’t worry about it, it’s just a bit of bumfluff.’

Matt says he checked his ear in the mirror before leaving the shop, but at the time the burn didn’t look too bad.

It wasn’t until he got home that he noticed the extent of the damage.

“My other half said, ‘your ear’s all blistered,’” he continued.

“It’s literally given me four blisters that have been weeping and that have puss coming out.

“You don’t really expect to go to the hairdressers, get a haircut and come out scolded.”

Matt added he was starting a new job at Smyths Toys the following Monday and was concerned that he wouldn’t look presentable for his first day after the incident.

“I’m quite annoyed about it,” he said on the evening of the haircut, “because my ear’s still burning and I start my new job on Monday and I’ve got to be presentable.

“I don’t think it’s going to look very good at the new job, speaking to customers.

“It’s a bit scary if they say, ‘there’s a man on the tills with his ear burnt.’ Doesn’t set a very good example.”

As well as his concerns over the new job, Matt said his biggest worry is that it could have been one of his three children who had been burnt.

“That’s my main concern. I’m an adult, I’m almost 30 years old, I can withhold a certain amount of pain but if it was my four-year-old, children aren’t going to think, ‘oh, that’s a bit hot’ and say something.

“If they get burnt it’s going to be twice as bad.”

Matt says he has since contacted the barber shop, who suggested he come back in to discuss the issue. But he says he’s reluctant to accept a refund or any offer of a free hair cut in case it happens again.

“What’s to say it won’t happen again next time?” He added.