Status, an independently owned salon in Yaxley, was one of 10,000 applicants which entered the L'Oreal Professional Trophy – the hair styling equivalent of the Oscars.

A cut and colour by the owner of Status, Jon Haymes (37) was hand-picked at the L'Oreal International Academy in London by a panel of judges which included hairdressing greats such as Charles Worthington and Andrew Collinge.

The Main Street-based salon has only been trading for three years in the village near Peterborough and is thought to be the smallest salon in the entire history of the awards to be selected.

Salons across the country were required to submit a photograph of a model whose hair they had cut and coloured, for the opportunity of being considered throughout the industry as one of the top salons in the UK.

Mr Haymes said: "We are surprised and really proud to be nominated for the award and for the opportunity from L'Oréal to move forward in the competition. Just being nominated is a real privilege – it's bit like the Faroe Islands qualifying for the World Cup."

Salons up and down the country are known to spend tens of thousands of pounds in order to create their entries, yet Status managed to achieve their nomination on a budget of a few hundred pounds.

They achieved this with the help of an unknown model called Hayley Bird (22).

Miss Bird is currently studying a performing arts qualification and designed her own make up for the shoot. She hopes to make a career as a make-up artist when she finishes college later this year.
The salon says it did have one ace up its sleeve when it came to submitting the entry.

Mr Haymes said: "I think what gave us the extra 10 per cent in our photographs was being able to call in a big favour from established fashion industry photographer Mark Curtis."

The Regional finals for the L'Oréal Colour Trophy will be held at the Cambridge Corn Exchange on March 31.