A FORMER builder has swapped cement for canines to follow his dream of opening his own dog grooming salon.

Paul Room, from Feniscowles, has spent the last 35 years laying bricks but he's pawsitively delighted to be opening his new salon after years of injuries, which has seen him needing a knee replacement surgery.

So he's bid a fond furwell to the building trade, hung up his trowel for clippers to open up his Just Paws Dog Grooming Salon in Pinewood, Feniscowles, Blackburn.

The new and modern, purpose-built salon opened last Tuesday and offers full grooms, wash only or just a simple nail clip, with facilities including a hydro-bath.

It is an expansion from Mr Room’s old dog grooming salon, which we had been operating from the garden shed of his home in Feniscowles since August last year.

And he first decided to go into the dog grooming industry last June after giving up his career as a builder spanning more than three decades, where he worked at Room Maintenance Services in Blackburn for 20 years.

Mr Room, a keen dog lover, said: “I’d been in the building industry for 35 years and suffered injuries which have seen me needing a new knee replacement.

“So I decided working as a builder was killing me and I needed a career change.

“Therefore, I decided to start a level three City and Guilds course in dog grooming, as I’ve always had a passion for dogs.

“I passed that and I then opened up a dog grooming salon from the shed of the back garden of my house.

“It proved to be a real success and I then just looked to expand and managed to secure a premises in Pinewood, which I have done up and now opened.

“I have also taken on a new apprentice who will be working at the salon and who is currently getting his City and Guilds in dog grooming in St Helen’s.

Mr Room said he hoped the dog grooming salon would ‘offer something different’ to people in Blackburn.

He said: “At other dog grooming salons, dogs can get left in cages for the entire day before they are cleaned.

“At my business, I give people specific appointments and their dogs can exercise in a play area while they’re waiting to be groomed.

“I just hope I can offer something different and that it will provide a cleaner, better environment for dogs to come to and a good service.”

The salon is open from Monday to Friday between 8am and 6pm and on a Saturday from 8am to 12 noon.