LOS ANGELES: A strand of hair from the late Elvis Presley, saved by his personal barber, is to be auctioned in Wiltshire. Ho-mer Gill Gilleland toured with Elvis for more than 20 years. He dyed the singer’s hair black and then cut it, saving strands in a towel.

Friends of Gilleland said he would then bundle up the towel, with hair inside, and take it home in a bag. The piece of hair is expected to fetch up to £250 at the auction in Devizes on November 14.

After Elvis’s death in 1977,

Gilleland is said to have started selling strands of the hair in a souvenir shop on the street opposite the singer’s home Graceland in Memphis in the US. The strand currently up for auction was given to Thomas B Morgan Jr in 2002 by the barber. Morgan worked in the Sheriff’s Office of Shelby County and knew Elvis.

The hair, which comes with a certificate of authenticity, is mounted in a frame alongside a photograph of Elvis. In November 2002, a wad of Elvis’ hair sold for $115,000 (about £70,000) in the Internet auction.