A NEW salon offering specialised beauty treatments has opened its doors in Chard.

Revive Hair and Beauty, Fore Street, opened on Friday, September 15.

Business owner Amy Markham hopes that the new venture will bring more people to the town centre and she offers treatments that clients would otherwise travel to Bristol to receive.

Ms Markham, 26, has been working in the industry for the last four years, and has seen a boom in business that led to her needing a venue to use as a base.

"I've worked at around 60 weddings so far this year, I've been so busy that it's nice to have a base.

"I've built up a really strong client base here. There's so many beautiful venues to get married around Chard."

Treatments will include specialised services for weddings, traditional hair and beauty works, and cosmetic works such as botox.

To relax, Amy, from Buckland St Mary, enjoys spending time with and riding her horses, although she says she loves her job.

She said: "I love being part of someone's big day.

"You get instant gratification.

"I hope the new salon will be a long-term thing.

"It's great for Chard to have a bigger business coming to the town.

"It's somewhere offering something a bit different, a new service.

"The beauty industry is constantly evolving so it's great to try and keep up with that.

"People that would normally travel to somewhere like Bristol to have specialised treatments done can now come here so we'll be keeping people local."

The new salon will be creating nine new jobs. Amy has hand-picked her staff based on quality she's familiar with.

She added: "We'll have nine people including the ladies that will do the botox and the specialised treatments.

"I've got a couple of former salon-owners coming to work so I know they are high quality."