Paul Hone with friend Marilyn and dog Jasper

A “COLOURFUL” and caring master hairdresser who threw legendary themed parties and turned clients into friends has died aged 68.

Paul Hone was born in Buckinghamshire in 1958 and cut hair on cruise ships before opening his own salon, Theorem, in Cross Street more than 30 years ago. He lived in nearby Oakley Road.

“He was a very colourful person, and that’s how it’s best to remember him,” said friend Alex Keel, who first met Paul through their mutual friend Nick Grant in 1999 and has had his hair bleached at Theorem ever since.

“He was a jolly person and very outgoing. However, he could also be quite shy. He always took a while to ponder an answer.”

Mr Keel told how Paul liked to dress glamorous and glitzy in the style of T. Rex frontman Marc Bolan – one of his musical favourites, along with Madonna – but was also humble and softly spoken whenever he had a dilemma.

He loved seahorses, and had statues or soft toys of the animals all around the salon, including a seahorse figurehead instead of a sign out front.

Paul (second from right) in the early days of Theorem

Theorem is a tiny, wedge-shaped premises – so small that customers had to move chairs anytime someone new arrived for a cut, and inevitably got chatting to one another in the process.

“It was like a Carry On film,” joked Mr Keel, adding: “Paul was thinking about retirement, and then he said, ‘Oh no, I like it too much’.”

Paul was known for his skill with famously tricky human hair extensions and took great pride in his craft, but when he wasn’t in the salon he was leading Bonsai Bingo for local charities like the Stuart Low Trust, or corralling the “Theoremettes” – his own amateur theatre troupe of friends and customers who performed in surrounding pubs.

And of course there were his famously flamboyant themed parties, often hosted on the salon roof.

“He really created a community here – he touched so many people’s lives,” said Mr Keel. “He was very caring. Right to the end he phoned his mother every Saturday, and often interrupted the bleach to do it.

“He had almost an old-fashioned charm and definitely had a lot of charisma, but simple things really pleased him, even just a grateful customer after a haircut.”

Paul’s funeral will be held on April 1 – the anniversary of the day Theorem opened more than 30 years ago.

He is pre-deceased by his brother, sister and mother, and leaves behind many friends and customers.