A WELL-KNOWN Blackburn hairdresser took the morning off creating hairstyles for clients to put his autograph on a new creative venture ­— his first published book.

Nigel Womack, 65, welcomed a steady stream of youngsters and their families keen to get signed copies of children’s story The Angry Giant, at Blackburn’s WHSmith in The Mall.

Darwen-born Mr Womack, who has run Nigel’s Cutting Shop in Town Hall Street since 1974, has been writing since he was a teenager and promises more tales to come ­— for both adults and children.

Mr Womack, who was joined by illustrator Ursula Hurst, 50, said: “This is fantastic ­— signing my own books in my home town. I hope it inspires some of the children to follow in my footsteps and write themselves.

“I’ve always written and I’ve got at least 70 more books ready to go. In September, I’ve got two more coming out.

“One is a children’s book called ‘The Bee’ about a bee who has lost her yellow and black jumper and the other is a book for adults called ‘Tales from the Washroom’ about my 44 years of being a hairdresser."

Illustrator Ursula Hurst, who taught at St Anne’s Blackburn and St Charles in Rishton and now runs Art Daze, a schools arts initiative, said: “I’ve always wanted to be an illustrator and now I am. Nigel is great to work with. He let me do the illustrations I wanted.”

The creative team and publisher and fellow Blackburn author Christina Gabbitas were at Blackburn’s WHSmith in The Mall on Saturday for the official launch of the book, first published on February 9.