BLACKBURN has topped the list as a hotspot for beauty in the North.

The town is in the top ten for having the highest concentration of salons and hairdressers anywhere outside London.

Blackburn is one of five towns that boast one salon for every 726 people.

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Mariam Chaudhri, 34, co-owner of Gossip Beauty Salon, said: “I think there is room for everyone and competition is healthy.

“The number of businesses in the area doesn’t really affect us as a business.”

In the North West, the towns of Preston, Blackburn, Lancaster and Crewe have 2,616 salons for a combined population of 1.9 million.

The Mapmechanics findings were based on data from 62,000 high street hair and beauty businesses, including hairdressers, barbers, spas, hair implant clinics and nail salons.

Experts analysing the data said that the north-south divide comes because of the influence of celebrities, such as footballers’ wives Coleen Rooney and Alex Gerrard, and the popularity of events such as Ladies' Day at Aintree.

Beth Hartland, 23, owner of Nail and Beauty Box, said: “I think it is a growing trade and you are constantly having new products and techniques come in all the time.

“With celebrities posting and sharing pictures of their nails on Instagram and Facebook, everyone wants to keep up with the styles and everyone wants to look like Cheryl Cole.

“At the moment, we are all trying to find our own identities and looking for the thing that makes us stand in order to keep up business.

“Sometimes it is good to have healthy competition because you need that to motivate yourself but I think there are enough salons, hairdressers and parlours now.”

Catherine Smith, 46, co-owner of Jeff Stone Hairdressing, said: “We do have our fair share of hair salons around here.There are six within a stone’s throw.”

Blackpool came top of the league table for the North West, with 391 hair and beauty businesses for a population of 280,000.

David Cockrell, director at Mapmechanics, said: “Our research reveals a clear north-south divide in the density and popularity of hair and beauty salons across the UK.

"This popularity and demand is driven not only by the influence of regional celebrity icons, sporting events and shows on television, but also the desire to look younger, economic growth and the increase in real disposable income and differing tastes in how people want to spend it.”