‘It’s so unfair’: life on the streets of the French town branded as ‘lost to Islam’

Mayor of Paris suburb labelled an extremist centre says stoking division will not help his town

The HairCoiffure salon on Rue Jean Jaures, a short walk from Trappes station, is offering a cut-and-blow-dry for women at 18 (15.50) and 15 for men, a banal observation at the centre of the latest battle in France's toxic debate over religious extremism.

Hairdressers and their clients hit the headlines after local teacher Didier Lemaire claimed there were no mixed salons in Trappes - suggesting the town was in the stranglehold of Islamic radicalisation. He also claimed schoolchildren were banned from singing and some women barred from cafes. Lemaire has since been placed under police protection following alleged death threats.