Norwich beauty salon sees drop in trade after bus crash

The doubel decker bus that struck a building near Orford Hill, Norwich after pulling over to allow an ambulance through that was answering an emergency. Photo :Steve Adams (Image: Copyright Archant Norfolk 2016)

Head & Soul on Orford Hill has been engulfed by scaffolding for the past eight weeks as engineers worked to repair the damage caused to the building by the bus.

After being closed for four days following the accident, the salon was given the go-ahead to open by a structural engineer, but had to keep part of the hair salon on the second floor closed as teams worked to repair the damage done by the bus to the exterior of the shop.

Builders had to replace broken glass panels, repair damage to the woodwork, and repaint parts of the shop. Although most of the salon remained open throughout the repair work, salon owner Kate Conteh said the repairs had a major effect on trade.

'From Timber Hill we looked completely closed due to the scaffolding and many people still thought we were shut due to refurbishment even though we put up lots of advertising signs stating we were open,' she said. 'The work has had a huge effect on our business and we have been really, really quiet since the accident with even our regular clients not turning up to appointments as they thought we were shut.'

The crash occurred in February when a First bus tried to move out of the way of an ambulance flashing emergency lights on Red Lion Street. As it pulled onto the kerb, it struck the top of the building.

The salon had only reopened days before the crash following £56,000 of refurbishment.

Mrs Conteh added: 'I can not wait to see get the salon back to normal and see the end of all the repair work.'