Hair typically grows to a maximum length of 5ft (1.5m), but Dae Yu Quin, 41, a Chinese woman from Shanghai, has hair 14ft 9in (4.5m) long. She has not cut it since she was forced to shave her head as a teenager because of a scalp disease. Now, 26 years later, it takes half a day to wash and dry. L’Oreal’s Chinese office tracked her down when her extraordinary tresses featured in a Shanghai newspaper, and now the firm is studying some of her hair.

Miss Dae claims that her secret is to keep her hair in a turban, so that it is not exposed to ultraviolet light or pollution.