HAIRDRESSER Susan Whittaker-Tyrer has developed her own secret formula to combat an age-old children's plague.

And her no-nonsense approach to the growing grief of head lice is matched by her name for the antidote . . . No Nits Shampoo.

"The problem is rife right now," she said. "But the official line seems to play it down.

"My answer is, however, simple shampoo. The lice don't like the smell!"

Susan developed her special brew at the Philip John Hair Salon in Morley Street, Atherton. "It's a combination of simple shampoo and a variety of aromatherapy oils.

"I gave some to my three-year-old nephew Bradley, who was visiting from his home in Paignton, and it was he who named it No-Nits Shampoo.

"Since then it's just stuck."

Susan, a hairdresser for thirty years - 25 of them at the salon she runs with her husband - has been inundated with requests for her shampoo.

"It's tragic seeing so many desperate mums coming in and asking for help. But I give them all my No-Nits Shampoo and it works.

"The problem lies mainly in the schools where the lice can easily transfer to a clean head. Teachers are not allowed to touch pupils these days; they can do nothing when they suspect head lice.

"I have even offered to go into schools to offer advice. Officials keep saying there is no epidemic. But there is. Just ask all the mums who come to me for help."

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