A man from Leeds has been boasting on social media about making £300 a day by cutting people's hair during the coronavirus lockdown.
Messages sent to LeedsLive also show the man claiming that Covid-19 is "hyped up to fuel a secret agenda" and "nowhere near as bad as they make it out to be".
In a series of Instagram posts and messages, the man is confronted by someone about his actions, but laughs off claims that he is putting himself and other people at risk by saying: "The secret location is my back garden hahahaha."
Although the government are beginning to gently ease some lockdown measures, salons and barbers are not currently allowed to open as it would be impossible to maintain two metres of social distancing.
First secretary Dominic Raab has confirmed that salons and barbers will not be allowed to open until the start at July at the very earliest.
However, the man from Leeds posted an Instagram story with the caption: "Trims going down at a secret location tell your cousins, dads, neighbours, anyone and everyone."
When asked about the validity of charging people for haircuts during a global pandemic, the man then says: "Dw were [sic] keeping our 2 metres."
He also claims that he tests every single person "with a temp gun" before they get a haircut and that he wears a face mask and gloves throughout.
He even suggests that the 'work from home' motto applies to him - despite the government rules stating that no barbers are currently allowed to be open.
He then appeared to post a separate Instagram story responding to criticism by saying: "People getting @ me for my last snap cause I be making 3+ bill a day whilst they sat on their ass. Capitalise whilst u can no ones [sic] gonna feed your family if they go broke."
When he is pushed again on why he is charging people for haircuts instead of claiming money through the government's furlough scheme, he says: "Dog eat dog in this world. If you wanna get anywhere you have to be ruthless."
Police were given new powers at the start of the lockdown to issue on-the-spot fines of £60 if someone was caught breaching the new regulations. However, these fines will now rise to to £100.
