WHILE pubs and hairdressers in England have been given the all-clear by government to reopen on July 4, tattoo parlours were left disappointed to learn they must keep their doors closed for now.

This week saw Bolton East MP Mark Logan raise the question in Parliament of when they can reopen, with Leader of the House, Jacob Rees Mogg, replying that “the government hopes that tattoo and nail parlours will be able to open up as soon after July 4 as is safe and practical.”

Danny Robinson, star of MTV’s Just Tattoo Of Us, runs the Luxadore studio in Thicketford Road, Bolton.

He says it was frustrating to hear that hairdressers can open on July 4, while tattoo parlours must remain closed.

“The bylaws for tattoo parlours state that we have to have the cleanliness of a hospital due to infection prevention,” he said. “We are so clean as an industry and a lot of us take real pride in the cleanliness, making sure everything is sanitised and wiped down.

“Because of this we really expected to be allowed to reopen because a tattoo parlour is probably one of the safest places to go.

“Seeing the pubs reopen has annoyed us - you can go there and get drunk and lose any sense of social distancing after a few drinks but a tattoo parlour is a clean environment.”

Other measures used to prevent cross-contamination include disposable gloves and aprons which artists must wear.

“There are many ways for me to actually tattoo a customer and not face them,” said Danny. “I can lie them on their backs and of course I can wear a mask and have no face to face contact.It is so easy for us to carry out our business.”

Danny says he feels the Government does not fully understand the tattoo industry.

“I think some of them think of it as a bit a black market,” he said. “For them it still has the image of bikers and I don’t feel like you would ever hear Boris Johnson speaking about tattoo parlours. Maybe in about 20-30 years time, when our generation is older, it will be more accepted.”

Despite having no date for reopening, Danny is confident his business can recover.

“It is a waiting game but we will all come out of it the other side,” he added.