FED UP with paying expensive rent and costly business rates, these hairdressers from York have decided to hit the road.

The mother-and-daughter team have invested in a mobile hair salon to escape taxes and charges associated with running a city centre business.

Now Paula and Tara McDonnell, of Oz Hair, are moving out of their salon in Pavement, York, and into a brand new motor home, kitted out with everything they need to style hair on the move.

Paula, 40, said: "We were looking at our rent going up to about £500 a month, and utility bills and business rates on top of that took what we would be paying to £1,000 - and that's just for an upstairs premises.

"By making this move we are avoiding all the outgoings that we have to pay in York city centre. We'll take all our existing clients with us, and we'll even be able to drive out to new ones."

Oz Hair will be a completely mobile hairstyling operation - which the pair believe will be the region's first. Their vehicle, a customised Fiat Modena, is completely self-contained, and has a water tank and its own generator on board.

Paula, who has been hairdressing in York since 1989, said: "We can go out to homes and do whole families at once, or park outside offices during lunchtime.

"In fact, we can go anywhere for our clients - as long as there are no yellow lines, of course."

Peter Pybus, regional committee member for the Federation Of Small Businesses, said: "This is a problem we've heard about from a lot of our members. Rents and charges in York are so high that small businesses just aren't viable any more."

For more information about the new service visit www.ozhair.com.

Updated: 08:40 Thursday, November 25, 2004