FARMER Chrissie Crossman has almost doubled her fundraising target after having more than 12 inches cut from her flowing hair.

Mrs Crossman, who managers a dairy herd in All Cannings, near Devizes alongside her husband Mat, was inspired to raise money for children's charity the Little Princess Trust which is based in the county where she grew up.

Mrs Crossman, who has sons Archie, five, and Vinnie, three, who was moved by the story of Hannah Tarpley who inspired the charity. Mrs Crossman said: "I've had long hair since I was a small child but with being a busy working mum on the farm I just have to put my hair up out of the way. There aren't a lot of occasions where I can wear my hair down so I decided I might get it cut shorter.

"Although, I didn't want my lovely hair to just be thrown away. I grew up in Herefordshire which is where the Little Princess Trust was launched so I have heard of the charity before. It was set up in memory of Hannah Tarplee, a little girl from Hereford who sadly lost her short battle with cancer in 2005.

"I thought what if that was my child or a child I knew who had lost their hair? Immediately that made my decision for me. I wanted to donate my hair to this amazing charity."

She set up a fundraising page with the hope of raising £350, which is the cost of creating a real hair wig. But so far donations have reached £626. She has also donated her hair to the charity.

She contacted independent hair salon Willit and James at Planks Farm and was delighted when they offered to help.

Mrs Crossman said: "On the day they were so welcoming and put my nerves at ease. I have never had short hair so this was quite a nerve wracking experience for me.

"Kayleigh was my lovely stylist who measured, plaited and then actually cut and re-styled my hair and she did a wonderful job.

I now have a gorgeous new hairstyle and have hopefully made a small person very happy with a real hair wig made from my very own hair."

She described the amount of donations so far received as amazing. She said: "Thankyou so much to everyone who has donated so far. Every little helps and every little is a massive help for this wonderful charity to provide real hair wigs to boys and girls who have lost their hair due to cancer treatment. Thankyou so much."

Go to www.justgiving.com/fundraising/chrissiecrossman