A Portishead salon has collected around £280 towards research into the rare disease of inflammatory breast cancer (IBC).

Before the second national lockdown, clients of the Tonic Hair and Beauty House team were invited to hang a ribbon with their name on it to put on the salon’s pink tree of hope in exchange for a donation.

Tonic decided to raise the funds after local mum, Heidi Loughlin, who was diagnosed with the condition in September 2015, said there is no funding available for research into IBC, which is a rare type of breast cancer that develops rapidly, making the affected breast red, swollen and tender.

Salon co-owner, Simone Williams, said the team was ‘over the moon’ to be able to present Heidi with the donation ahead of the recent lockdown and ‘can’t thank our clients enough’.

Upon receiving the funds, Heidi said she is ‘so grateful’ for the ‘fantastic donation’ and thanks everyone 'from the bottom of my heart’.