Miner's son watches his family scratching to make ends meet during the strike, then sets his sights on what many a colliery worker would class as a career for lasses.

Undaunted, he follows his dream and ends up at the pinnacle of his profession – the highest-paid hairdresser in Britain and a TV name.

Former Royston Comprehensive lad Andrew Barton now charges a staggering £430 for an hour-long haircut.

He's the scissor-wielding miracle-worker on Ten Years Younger, TV's top makeover show. He's the hottest thing in British hairdressing – the man every female viewer wishes would run his hands through her tatty tresses and tell her he knows exactly what she needs.

Now at the crest of his fame, he's just pipped Britain's biggest stylist, Nicky Clarke.

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It means Barton probably earns more in 60 minutes than it must have taken his dad to earn in a fortnight of toil underground at Royston Colliery.

What would they say to that in the back streets of the pit village he's come a long way from, a place where a short back and sides can probably still be bought for a fiver and the effects of the credit crunch are starting to bite?

But Barton proudly insists he's never forgotten his roots.

And that it hasn't been easy.

The streets of London are only paved with gold if you're prepared to graft, he says.

"It was bred into me to work hard and that's what I've done," says Andrew.

"That attitude came from my mum and dad. They taught me that whatever task I did, even digging a flowerbed in our front garden, I should put everything into it. And I think it's the Northern way.

"I'm very proud of my heritage. I'm a working class lad from a working class family. And a very supportive one. When I was a kid, hairdressing wasn't a job a lot of lads went into."

Andrew feels his price tag is justified.

"I think I offer a great deal of experience and knowledge for that amount," he says. "There are things I can do to hair that people have never had done before.

"I make someone look younger, slimmer, taller – and all with a haircut.

"There are lots of people who see it as an investment purchase," he says. "After all, a haircut is the outfit you never take off.

"But with that price tag comes a huge responsibility to make sure you give the client great advice and a great look, plus an experience to enjoy."

How would his dad feel about his lad charging 430 quid for a haircut?

"Proud," says Andrew. "Of my success, but mainly of the fact that I'm also known for my honesty.

"People don't like to be flannelled about the way they look – they want the truth."

Indeed, it's that blend of down-to-earth Yorkshire bluntness, blended with cheeky chappie nice- guy charm, that wins him his fans – and his wages.

He is renowned in the hairdressing world for his amiable, down-to-earth personality.
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