THE owner of a tattoo studio in Hereford has branched out by opening a new enterprise in one of the world's most war-ravaged countries.

Keen photographer Peter Masters developed a love for Iraq when visiting recently to take images on the frontline.

His love for the Middle Eastern country was such that he is this week launching the tattoo studio in Erbil, the largest city of Iraq’s Kurdistan region, which boasts a population of about 1.5 million.

“There’s Americans, British and Kurdish people out there and I think there’s demand for the studio,” he said.

“Half of it is like Dubai, but there is half that I felt a lot of empathy with.

“There are refugees there who have been displaced by Isis. Right at the heart of it are people in tents, in the snow."

Mr Masters says the studio will make weekly donations to refugee camps in the area.

The opening means that for a short time the new venture will take the 47-year-old away from his day job running Skinzophrenic Tattoos on West Street, Hereford.

He is fresh from finishing a degree in photography at Hereford College of Arts and says he "craves crazy pictures".

Mr Masters has been inviting donations to help children made homeless by the Iraq conflict and has so far collected more than £500.

Donations can still be made via Skinzophrenic Tattoos’ Facebook page.