TWO Amman Valley schoolgirls battled it out at the weekend to discover who should be crowned the real- life Rapunzel and set a record for having the longest hair in Wales.

Meeting for the first time, nine-year-old Celyn Jones, a member of the CPC target sports club, and 12-year-old Katy White, a purple belt in Choi Kwang Do, went head to head in the hair-raising final.

“When I read the article in the Guardian about Katy possibly having the longest hair in Britain, I immediately thought of my daughter,”

said Rhian, Celyn’s mum.

“The similarities between the two girls are unbelievable.

“Everything from the time it takes to wash and dry her hair to having it tied back, especially when Celyn goes to school and pistol shooting practice.

“When I showed Celyn Katy’s picture she asked if she could have here hair measured just in case her hair was the same length as Katy’s or even longer.”

So, to satisfy Celyn’s curi - osity she went along to see Ammanford’s hair and beauty expert Lisa Bryan from Bedazzled, who measured Celyn’s hair at an amazing 3ft 3in.

“Not bad for a nine-year- old, 4ft 4in amateur pistol shooter,” said Lisa.

After realising her hair was not quite as long as Katy’s, Celyn said: “I don’t mind, it’s been really fun having my hair straightened and people making a fuss of me. It has also been nice meeting Katy.”

So Katy, who is 4ft 11in tall with hair measuring 3ft 4in, retains her title as the owner of the longest hair in Wales.

After making her debut on the front page of the Guardian, pictures of Katy’s golden locks were trending on Facebook and Twitter for days, with the story having 10,000 views in less than 24 hours.

“After my picture appeared on the front page of the Guardian I was inundated with requests by other news - papers who were interested in meeting me,” said Katy.

“I couldn’t believe how popular I was some people even asked me for my autograph.

“I’ve really enjoyed all the attention, and everyone has been really nice and I have had lots of compliments about my hair.