A Sidmouth schoolgirl who has never had her hair cut is preparing to lop off her golden locks so she ‘can make a girl with cancer feel like a princess too’.

‘Real-life Rapunzel’ Charlie Tillotson will be trimming her hair to raise money for Children with Cancer UK.

And after the snip, the six-year-old plans to donate the two-foot length cut hair to the Little Princess Trust – a charity that provides real hair wigs to children suffering from hair loss.

Her dad Steve said he was ‘gobsmacked’ when Charlie announced her plans last week.

“She doesn’t like her hair being touched,” said the Betjeman Close resident. “And she’s always said she’s going to just keep growing it.

“Last week Charlie saw some pictures of children with cancer, and later she asked me: ‘If I can raise some money for those children, can I get my hair cut?’.

“She said she wanted a girl with cancer to feel like a princess like she does. I just welled up when she told me.”

The father-of-four said that Charlie’s previous trips to the hairdressers had only been for minor trims - and the visit scheduled for July will be her first full cut.

“She’s not had it properly cut since birth,” he added. “She’s a real-life Rapunzel!”

And thanks to the generosity of Sid Valley residents, the Newton Poppleford Primary School pupil has already exceeded her original target – despite only fundraising for little over a week.

“When she said she wanted to go ahead with it, I asked her how much she wanted to raise, and she said ‘ten-hundred pounds’,” said Steve. “Then I told her she had to pick a real number, and she decided on £600.”

As the Herald went to press, Charlie had raised more than £1,000, and Steve said his daughter was ‘over the moon’ with the response. We had no idea she would raise this much this quickly,” he added. “She’s actually managed to reach her ten-hundred pounds!”

Donations can be made online at www.justgiving.com/charlietillotson