THE end of the rainbow is just in sight for two colour conscious Bolton teenagers who have reached the final of a national competition.

Liz Staniforth and Keeley Thornton, who work at the Hair Revival salon in the Total Fitness gym in Waters Meeting Road, are amazing the hairdressing world with their talent for colouring hair.

And the pair have beaten off competition from established stylists, winning places in the final of The Colour Challenge, a prestigious national competition run by Paul Mitchell products.

Liz, aged 19, from Radcliffe, used her childhood love of the film The Wizard of Oz to inspire her multi-coloured creation, Somehere Over the Rainbow.

"She was obsessed with the film. So much so that she wanted to be Dorothy," said her mum and salon manager Sharon Walton.

Keeley, aged 18, from Tong Fold, tried out funky tones of red, pink and purple on her creation, which she named Raspberry Truffle.

The girls, who are both still studying hair styling at Bolton College, used their days off over several weeks to create their designs on mannequins.

The regional final was held in Chorley recently and top stylists from throughout the North-west entered. Only six were chosen to go through to the final, including Keeley, who was the youngest in the competition and Liz, whose work got the top marks.

"It was my first competition so I was really chuffed," said Keeley.

"We are all excited about it. To get one girl through to the final is an achievement - to get two is amazing," said Sharon.

The two designs have now been sent to London for the final on November 28, the winner getting a trip to Florida and a Paul Mitchell training course.