THIN on top he may be - but this York hairdresser hopes to have a much fuller head of locks by the end of 2007.

Back in November, follicle- challenged David Smith - who owns Cads hairdressers in Fossgate - went under the surgeon's knife for the first part of a remarkable transplant operation he hoped would restore hair to his balding pate.

Now, he expects 2007 to be the year his crowning glory returns - and said the signs were already beginning.

"2007 will be the year of the hair," said David. "Hopefully, by the end of the year I would expect to have a decent head of hair.

"It will make me feel more confident.

"I'm just impatient, but it's going as they told me it would go.

"I've got clients coming in all the time and they're slightly disappointed there's not a lot to see!

"I can definitely feel it. It's like a really fine, fluffy, candy-floss."

David is forking out £7,000 for the two-stage procedure, which is being performed at the Norton clinic in Wakefield.

While he sat and watched DVDs for his first operation, experts conducting the painstaking process, which involved removing follicles from the back of his head and moving them to 1,500 specially-punctured holes on top.

The results take a few months to appear, but David said he could already feel downy new hair beginning to grow on his scalp.

He will go back to the clinic in the spring for the second stage of the surgery.

Now he hopes to the clinic might base one of its consulting rooms at his salon.

If the plan goes ahead, it would mean other people with hair loss living locally would be able to consult experts from the clinic about having a transplant.

David said: "The thing is that for guys that are maybe thinking about it, the biggest step is coming in and talking to an expert about it."

Jeremy Isherwood, director of the Norton Clinic, said he was interested in opening a consulting clinic at David's York salon - which would be its sixth base in the country.

"We're always happy to see patients," he said.

"We're interested in having a consultation facility at his hairdressing salon for both men and women experiencing hair loss."