Rasta’s locks may be world’s longest

A Rastaman in Jamaica believes his dreadlocks will one day be recognised as the longest in the world and enter the Guinness Book of Records.

Rupert Scott, 71, has been growing his hair all his adult life and believes they are 20ft long. Cleansing it, he said, can take as much as three hours. After washing for about 45 minutes, the majority is draped over a clothesline for partial drying. A complete drying may take as many as four days.

“I wash it like once a month and it takes me two bottles of shampoo and one conditioner, and four days to dry properly,” he said. “I use tuna or aloe vera as moisturiser, and I ensure that I keep it covered and wrapped up from dust, especially now since there is road work going on.”

The father of 18 is a local celebrity in Middleton, St Thomas. He said: "I remember going to France and I was like a movie star. There were paparazzi everywhere and persons just want to take photos with me. The white women dem love mi off, they are always marvelled by me and my locks."