West Oxfordshire District Council

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Skin Piercing

People practising acupuncture, semi-permanent skin-colouring, cosmetic piercing (including ear piercing), electrolysis or tattooing, and the premises they use, have to be registered with their local authority.

The Council has adopted byelaws to secure the hygienic operation of these activities. Copies are available to view or download on the right of this page. Byelaws about Cosmetic Piercing and Semi-permanent Skin-colouring have been confirmed by the Secretary of State for Health and come into force on the 1 March 2006.

An application form for tattooing can be downloaded. It is in the public interest that the authority must process your application before it can be granted. If you have not heard from the local authority within a reasonable period, please contact 01993 861060.

To apply on line

To apply online you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader version 9 or later. This is available to download free here. (link: http//tryit.adobe.com/uk/acrobat9/?sdid=EKBXD)

Application for a licence to carry out acupuncture, tattooing, piercing and/or electrolysis

Guidance Notes

The Council has produced guidance notes covering various skin piercing topics. These are listed in the 'Publications' area of the site (prefixed by 'Skin Piercing') from where they can be downloaded.