Women's fear over Amelie killings

Fair-haired women are dyeing their hair after police warned a serial killer could be deliberately targeting blondes.

Salons near the spot where French student Amelie Delagrange was killed are reporting that customers are taking the step to avoid becoming his next victim.

The news comes after police said they feared the man could have a hatred of blondes and warned women to take extreme care. Officers have distributed 4,000 rape alarms to people living near the scene of the murder in Twickenham.

In the weeks since Miss Delagrange died, more than a dozen women have been to Kim & Co hairdressing salon in Staines Road - a few hundred yards from Twickenham Green where her body was found - saying they no longer want to risk being blonde.

"They say, 'I want to be dark because he goes for blondes'. I was surprised at first but then I wouldn't be blonde," said the salon's Sam Stokoe, 18.

"It's very worrying. I don't walk on my own any more. We've had about 15 blonde women asking to be dyed dark or red.

"They are all ages but mostly mums, and all live quite close to the green."

In Twickenham town centre, only a few doors from Crystalz bar where Miss Delagrange spent her last evening, the owner of Forever salon said dozens of customers had discussed disguising their hair colour. "Only two so far have actually changed their hair colour because they were frightenedof being attacked, but many people talk about it," said Mary Hasan, 36.

"I had just gone blonde in the summer and I dyed my hair straight back after the murder.

"I felt shocked and devastated. You don't expect it to happen in Twickenham because it's such a quiet area. I find myself wondering about every man I see in the street - 'is it him?'

"I don't feel like being blonde any more. It's not worth the risk."

Mrs Hasan, a mother of four, added: "The two women felt the same. One was about 30. She lives alone by Twickenham Green and I think works in the City and gets home quite late. She came in two weeks after Am鬩e was killed. She was a natural blonde and had never dyed her hair before but she didn't feel comfortable being blonde."

Last week police released CCTV pictures of three men and a woman they want to interview as potential witnesses to Miss Delagrange's death in August. One man has since come forward.

The 22-year-old was bludgeoned to death as she crossed Twickenham Green at about 10pm. The fifth hammer attack in a two-mile radius in 19 months, it bore startling similarities to the murder last year of student Marsha McDonnell in nearby Hampton.

Four weeks before her death, a 17-year-old girl was left with horrific injuries after an attack a mile away in Strawberry Hill.

John Bell, of the Twickenham Society, said: "I know there are a number of very promising leads and the police are optimistic."