HAIR and beauty salon owner Dean Jackson is a walking advert for his business.

The 32-year-old is so dedicated to looking good that he gets through an estimated £25,544-worth of designer clothes, haircuts and beauty therapies each year.

Dean, of Newton Aycliffe, runs Saks in Durham City, where his 14 staff have nicknamed him Jean because of his devotion to good grooming.

But Dean, whose 23-year-old fiancee Kristie Taylor, the salon's beauty therapist, is expecting their first child, said there is nothing unmanly about men taking pride in their appearance and that he is not vain.

He said: "You get ribbed by people because you spend so much on your appearance. They say 'are you sure you're not batting for the other side.'

"But I say what's wrong with taking a bit of time over yourself. Women do it so why can't men?"

Dean's yearly grooming bill - some of the treatments he gets are free - includes £2,600 on monthly facial skin cleansing sessions, £264 on haircuts, £1,300 on manicures, £400 on Botox injections to keep wrinkles at bay and £390 on eyebrow sculpting.

He also spends more than £9,600 on designer clothes and shoes for work and play from his favourite boutique, Van Mildert, many of which he eventually gives away to charity shops.

Because he is busy running his business, Dean has personal shoppers from the boutique and Boots the Chemists to show him the latest products in his salon.

Dean, who grew up on a council estate, says more men are ignoring the region's macho stereotype and making the most of their appearance.

"We have guys in the salon who get a massage or a facial from the wife for Christmas and they like it so much they come back."

Dean will appear in an ITV documentary on men bitten by the grooming bug, called Beautiful Boys, next Wednesday, at 10.30pm.