A LITTLE girl with a big heart has been shorn of her luxurious locks to raise more than £1,000 for children.

Tillie Howell, aged five, had 11 and a half inches taken off her hair to raise money for Children in Need. So far she has raised £1,017 but money is still rolling in after she had the sponsored haircut at Serene Hair and Beauty at the Lyppard Grange Community Centre in Ankerage Green, Warndon Villages, Worcester on Saturday (November 15).

But big-hearted Tillie felt she could help more than just one charity and will donate her hair to the Little Princess Trust which provides real-hair wigs to boys and girls across the UK and Ireland who have lost their hair through cancer treatment.

Her mum Jade Howell, 24, said: "She is very happy, especially after watching Children in Need on Friday before having it done. She has a real understanding now of where the money is going. She loves her new hair but she does want it to grow back. I cried when she had her hair cut. She is my baby and it is overwhelming to think a five-year-old could do that."

The Tibberton CE First School pupil impressed her family with her kindness when she said she wanted to have her hair cut like singer Jessie J and that it did not matter because her hair would grow back 'like Rapunzel's'. Children In Need this year raised more than £32 million, the highest total in its history, thanks to the efforts of fundraisers including children like Tillie.

To find out more visit Tillie's page - www.justgiving.com/tilliesdonatingherhair