Disabled people in northwestern Düzce province will no longer need to move from their wheelchairs for a haircut, thanks to a special hydraulic system installed at a barber shop Tuesday.

The shop now has a designated place for the disabled where a unique hydraulic system allows wheelchairs to be adjusted in front of the mirror.

Serdar Gündüz, owner of the shop, said he came up with the idea after he saw what his 17-year-old disabled neighbour, Eren Sevinç, had to go through just for a simple haircut and a shave.

Gündüz said: "We thought of an idea and converted an industrial machine into a chair for the disabled through our own efforts.

"I wish this project serves as a model for Turkey, and spreads in waves."

Düzce Governor Zülkif Dağlı lauded the step.

Projects that make the lives of the disabled community easier should increase in number, Dağlı said.

"This project should be developed. We will also support it," he said.

The head of the barbers and coiffeurs chamber in Düzce, Necdet Küründük, said Gündüz's initiative was the first of its kind in Turkey.

Meanwhile, the teenaged neighbor, Sevinç, was all smiles after he became the first customer of the new system at the hair saloon.

Gündüz said it makes him happy to see the disabled and the families pleased with his initiative.