A hairdresser is packing his scissors and tongs to work on a missionary hospital ship in Africa. Luke Lehmann, 26, above, has left work as art director at an Oxford salon and is set to fly to Ghana as a volunteer with Mercy Ships, a global charity which operates a fleet of hospital ships in developing nations.

Mr Lehmann, of Bridge Street, Osney, Oxford, will be wielding his scissors and dryer for crew members and medics on board. He said: "The vision of the ship is to bring hope and healing to the forgotten poor. It's a privilege to experience that."

A former pupil of King Alfred's School, Wantage, he grew up in Stanford in the Vale.