TATTOOS should no longer be associated with the young, or so it seems. More like the young at heart.

A tattoo could be a life-long reminder of a loved one, a particular design or simply a symptom of a rebellious stage.

Fern Britton is an example of someone showing their defiant streak. Last Christmas the ex-This Morning presenter, 53, had her first tattoo of two butterflies on her stomach.

She has described it to Woman and Home magaznie as part of “enjoying a disgraceful middle age” and even hinted at being “a work in progress”.

The idea came to her, she says, after her 10-year-old daughter, Winnie, gave her a stick-on tattoo.

But the real surprise is that whilst some parents are advising their children against them, she decided to switch a temporary children’s tattoo with something more permanent.

This is no spur of the moment decision. Fern knew the consequences and it’s a lifetime commitment. Or so she may tell her children if they bring up the idea.

She also drew inspiration from fellow celebrity Felicity Kendall, 64, who has two tattoos on her leg and foot.

Other women of a similar age may now feel liberated to follow her lead, and that the stigma which once came with tattoos, particularly those done in later life, may be disappearing.

Charlie Cheesman, a tattoo artist at The Gallery on Charminster Road, says she has tattooed people ranging from 18 to 75.

She said: “We’ve had one woman who was 65 and she had some stars done. A 75-year-old man had a bluebird tattooed on his arm. We didn’t think it was abnormal.

“He wanted to do it for his daughter who he’d lost contact with.”

She added that the average age for having cover-ups on a tattoo is between 22 and 30.

She said: “They might have got a tattoo from somewhere when they were under-age and now they don’t like it. We don’t get many older people having them and regretting it. ”

Carolyn Read, director of Scribe and the Tattoo Parlour, both in Pokesdown, says that as many as 50 per cent of their customers are aged over 50.

She said: “You get the older people having everything from a little flower on the hip to a full or half sleeve tattoo.”

She added: “These people really get into the hang of it and some of them you see coming back week after week for a bit more or a tattoo somewhere else.

“I’m in my mid-40s and at my age I think we should be able to spend on the things we fancy. Plus you get a bit more rebellious. People want to show they can still do what they want.

“The husbands really hate it, like Fern Britton’s husband, Phil Vickery, does, but it gives more power to the people.”

So maybe it’s not just another celebrity fad but proving to yourself that you can so something you never thought you would.

“It can be used as a memento or a tribute to something you don’t want to forget. But for some people, perhaps it’s advisable to just fake it with the temporary kind.”