Meet the great-grandad-of-six who has been cutting hair for 65 years - and still charges old-fashioned prices

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Melvin Eley, 76, who started working at Melvin's Gentleman's Hairdresser when he was 13, has a customer who has been coming to him for 66 years.

The UK’s longest serving barber says he has no plans to hang up his scissors yet after nearly 65 Years of cutting hair.

Melvin Eley, 76, is at the barber shop he joined in 1961 and still charges old-fashioned prices - £8 per trim - more than six decades later.

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He started working at the shop on Richmond Road in Stechford, Birmingham, as a Saturday boy aged 13 and has remained there ever since.

Melvin Eley cutting hair at his barbershop in Stechford, Birmingham.Melvin Eley cutting hair at his barbershop in Stechford, Birmingham.
Melvin Eley cutting hair at his barbershop in Stechford, Birmingham. | Joseph Walshe / SWNS

The great-grandad-of-six works 20 hours a week and says he’ll keep going for as long as he physically can.

Melvin started under the leadership of the shop's previous owner Tony East before buying out the business in 1982.

He has gone on to cut thousands of people’s hair at Melvin's Gentleman's Hairdresser, including musician Ranking Roger from The Beat, and a string of former Wolves players.

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The 'old school' barber has become somewhat of a local legend and many of his clients have been regulars for the last 30 to 50 years. His longest serving customer, John, has been visiting the shop from his home in Shirley, West Midlands, for 66 years.

Melvin said: “I had no interest in hair before he [Tony] took me on. I was just happy that I had a job doing something I enjoyed when I left school. I've always been one of those chaps who was happy enough stopping where I was. I’ve never had another job, this is my only job.

“The thing is with what's happened to me, I'm just waiting for my body to get well, I've had prostate cancer and a new hip. I’ll carry on until my body allows me to. I still enjoy my job so I will keep going for as long as I can."

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