Norwich beauty salon hit by double-decker bus after £56,000 of refurbishments

The first bus caused some damage to the building. Photo :Steve Adams (Image: Copyright Archant Norfolk 2016)

A newly renovated beauty salon in Norwich city centre has had to cancel clients' appointments after a double-decker bus crashed into it.

Head & Soul on Orford Hill had only re-opened last week after £56,000 of refurbishment work had seen it closed for five weeks but after the crash two floors of the salon will be out of use until they are deemed safe by a structural engineer.

Salon owner Kate Contey said yesterday afternoon's crash came as a real shock as they had only just got the salon looking the way they wanted.

'The salon only re-opened last week and we were still putting the finishing touches to some things on Thursday night.

Passers-by stopped to look after the incident this afternoon. Photo :Steve Adams (Image: Copyright Archant Norfolk 2016)

She said: 'We have now had to cancel clients appointments as we can't use any of the second or third floor because the impact of the bus has caused the floors to cave in making them unsafe.'

There is also damage to the outer wall of the salon and windows on the second floor were smashed.

The incident happened at around 3pm yesterday when a First bus tried to move out of the way of an ambulance flashing their emergency lights on Red Lion Street.

As it pulled up onto the kerb it struck the top of the salon and Mrs Contey knew something had happened when she heard a loud bang.

She said: 'I was on the fourth floor of the building when I heard a huge bang and initially thought that a customer had fallen down the stairs.

I ran down to the second floor and saw that a bus had hit the building. I was scared as I thought someone had been hit.'

'It was really lucky that no one was sitting near the window when it happened.'

No one was injured but Norfolk police were called to the scene to help make the area safe and manage traffic flow.

The driver of the bus was badly shaken up and staff from the salon tried to calm her down by giving her a glass of water.

A spokesperson from First said of the incident: 'One of our vehicles mounted the pavement to let an emergency vehicle pass and as a result caught the hanging canopy of the building causing damage to the front of our vehicle and the building.

'We have launched a full investigation into how it happened and are thankful that no one was injured.'

For now the salon will only be operating on two floors and Mrs Contey is most concerned for her employees.

She said: 'I worried for my employees as they have just had five weeks off so I don't want them to have to have more time off because of this.'

A spokesman for Norfolk police said officers had been called to the scene and were investigating.