An independent candidate for a crucial marginal seat has apologised for making a sexual joke towards a Sydney hairdresser.

Nicolette Boele, who is running for the seat of Bradfield, has been banned from a hairdressing salon, after telling a 19-year-old female staff member that her hair wash “was so good and I didn’t even have sex with you”.

Boele said in a statement she was sorry for the incident.

“It was a poor attempt at humour and I’ve apologised,” she said.

“Everyone deserves to feel respected in their workplace and I’ll do better.”

The teal independent ran in the 2022 election, almost unseating Liberal frontbencher Paul Fletcher.

The Liberals hold the seat on Sydney’s north shore by just 2.5 per cent. The party hasn’t lost the seat since it was created in 1949.

Boele also faces competition from Liberal candidate Gisele Kapterian at the federal election on May 3, following Fletcher’s retirement from politics.

-AAP