A woman has been left with a "black abyss of a hole" on her torso after a tattoo nightmare at a town centre parlour.

Clare White, from Ashford, went to Inking Out Loud to cover up a small name tattoo with a lily.

She said: "I sent pictures of lilies to their Facebook page showing the kind of styles that I liked.

"The lilly was placed and I had a look once that part was done. I was laying flat as a board. I laid back down for the so called 'shading' and looked down at the end to see this!

"It looks like a black abyss of a hole and nothing like what I imagined, it's messy and unartistic and everyone gasped when they saw it.

"The placement was wrong, and the black had been overworked making the skin tender, sore and bruised all the way round the black.

"This isn't a bad meal or dodgy haircut that I can forget about in a few months, I'm stuck with this scar in my body."

Ms White was due to go back to have the colouring put into the flower, but was wary of making the situation worse.

She said: "Admittedly the colour hadn't been put in the lilly yet so the piece was unfinished. [The tattoo artist] said the black will look less dark when the colour goes in.

"However, at this point I was starting to worry about going back there and letting them loose on me again.

"I went to get a second and third opinion off of other local tattooists ... they were all in agreement it was an absolute messy, shoddy piece of work.

"They all advised that under no circumstances should I let them work on me again!

"I'm absolutely disgusted with this ugly tattoo I've been left with..." - Clare White

As advised, she went back to the shop to complain and ask for a refund for the £170 she had already paid, having been quoted £250 for the full job.

However, she found when she went in that she was met with a hostile reception.

She said: "The woman on the front desk shoved an envelope in front of me and said 'that's all you're getting!'

"They gave me £20, which didn't even cover my deposit, and only ended up giving me £50 back after a rant and rave in their shop.

"I asked to see a manager and she said there was no manager as she's off for the foreseeable future raising a child at home.

"I said can I make an appointment for her to come in, and they said she may come in if she wants to but they couldn't guarantee anything.

"I really didn't want to make this public. I thought I'd give them the benefit of the doubt to see what they came back to me with to resolve the issue but I've been left with no choice.

"I'm absolutely disgusted with this ugly tattoo I've been left with.

"I've now got to pay out more money - most likely another £250 - and go through another load of pain to get it fixed elsewhere, and it can't even be worked on until the new year as it's been too overworked and the skin is too raw."

After talking to KentOnline on Saturday, Ms White informed us today that Inking Out Loud had been in contact with her to arrange a meeting to discuss matters.

Inking Out Loud has been contacted for comment.

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