A TATTOO studio has had a creative makeover, sprucing up its exterior with the help of a local graffiti artist.

Lazer Ink Tattoo studio, in Junction Road, wanted to improve its exterior wall, so turned to local graffiti artist Aidan Dawe for an inspired partnership.

Owner Nick Wright said: “We thought it looked a little bit clinical so now we tried to modernise it a bit.

“I had a bit of a vision, I wanted a big tattoo machine, that was all I was interested in Aidan just took it from there and made it awesome.”

Aidan, aged 22, has been creating graffiti since he was a child.

He said: “I’ve been drawing graffiti on bits of paper ever since school. I used to just sit in lessons doodling on my work and I only really started working with cans, I don’t know at about 15 or 16, so a good seven years of can work.”

Inspired by his first commissioned work on the studio’s wall, which was completed two weeks ago, Aidan now hopes to set up his own business.

“I’ve been doing things like kids’ bedrooms and it’s starting to pick up a little bit so hopefully I can establish that into a business.”

Lazer Ink, which opened two years ago, has seen positive impacts from the colourful new exterior, including a boom in business and less problems with parking on site.

Nick, said his business is busier than ever, adding: “It’s the biggest growth industry in the world at the moment.

“It’s changed big time. It’s the art and there’s a culture of it as well, a full culture and once you go into it, that’s it.”