The Auckland barbershop where it’s claimed a boy had part of his ear cut off is now under new ownership.

The shop, which the Herald has chosen not to name, sold within days of the incident and with all previous signage now removed.

The hasty sale came after a mother posted claims online her 3-year-old son had part of his ear cut off during a trim at the shop on Saturday.

The barbershop where the boy was injured sold within days of the incident. Photo / 123rf

In the now-deleted post on a local community Facebook page the mother said the visit to the shop ended in a trip to Starship children’s hospital after the barber “completely cut the entire top of our son’s ear off”.

“Blood everywhere and our son screaming to the point where he was almost losing consciousness,” the mother said.

WorkSafe confirmed it was investigating the incident.

In an interview with the Herald the barbershop owner confirmed there had been an incident but had a differing view of how serious the injury was. He said the boy’s ear was sliced “a little bit” but that the wound was not too deep.

He said it “didn’t come completely off” and there was a little blood.

He told the Herald he was thinking of closing the business or selling it because of the incident.

By the next day the owner decided he was selling and by Sunday afternoon he had a buyer.

The new owner told the Herald he was aware of the ear-cutting incident but said he was starting afresh and looking forward to settling in and building up a customer base.

He had removed all window decals and above-door signage associated with the previous business and would think of a new name “in the next few days”.

Other barbers in the area described the sale as “a real shame”.

“It sounds like it was an unfortunate accident so it’s a shame if they close because of it,” one said.

“There is always other solutions.”

Another said he had never nicked a child’s ear but said it could happen very easily.

“Some kids wriggle around and it’s hard work to keep them still,” he said.

“I have never cut an ear but I can see how it would happen.”

Another said he had seen nicks to the ear and they produced “a lot of blood.”

“One little cut anywhere on the head and there’s a lot of blood - people think the injury is a lot worse than it is.”