STUNNED hairdressers in Cleator Moor have been targeted by an anonymous poet who has been making headlines across the UK.

The mystery man, who uses the pen name Mark James and posts from Lancashire, has been dubbed the "Banksy of poetry" after the unidentified street artist.  

Hilary McLean, 54, of Moresby and runs The Candy Shop in Cleator Moor was opening the salon with 21-year-old hairdresser Jodie Mossop, from Egremont, when she noticed the mysterious poem had been posted through the door.

At first, Hilary, who has run the salon for 20 years, said she was a bit spooked out by the letter despite its upbeat message. 

The salon received a second poem on Tuesday which is about bravery. 

The poems, which finish with the sign-off, "Keep your chin up and keep smiling", are written in silver pen on black card and signed by “the composer Mark Jones”. 

Hilary and Jodie then looked the poet's name up on the internet to find a wealth of information on the wordsmith and discovered they were not alone.

According to a number of local newspapers across the country, other baffled recipients have included hairdressers in the North East, Aberystwyth and Haverfordwest in Wales and staff at Yeovil Town Football Club. 

The national press have dubbed him a "Banksy-style" poet who writes romantic pieces which always end with the "keep your chin up" sign-off.

"We're just a bit shocked to be honest!" said Jodie. "We don't understand how he's found The Candy Shop or why he's chosen us. I guess he's just looked through the phone book and just randomly picked us."

"We're not really sure what to do now!" said Hilary. "We've heard that he keeps sending poems so we'll just wait and see. The poems are quite nice really. The first one is like a love letter and the second is about bravery, they're both really positive."