STAFF at a Kidderminster hairdressers staged a huge clean-up operation into the early hours after their shop was left underwater by burst pipes.

Hair Tec, part of Towers Buildings in Blackwell Street, was hardest hit when frozen pipes started to thaw and burst above the disused former Time Nightclub next door overnight on Saturday. hairstylist Natalie Hill at work after the all-night clear-up operation at Kidderminster's Hair Tec.

But despite thousands of pounds worth of damage it was business as usual on Monday morning after a mammoth 14-hour clear-up effort by a 10-man team of staff and members of the Kinver-based Ralley family, who have run the business for 30 years.

Irene Ralley, whose daughter and son Olivia and Richard both work at the hairdressers said: "We didn't think we were going to be able to open on Monday.

"Most of the damage has been done to the parts you can't see upstairs - a brand new training room has been completely wrecked."

She said when her husband Brian arrived at about 12.30pm on Sunday to do some routine work he found the windows were wet, he could not open the front door, the carpet was floating and the ceiling was on the floor.

She estimated 1,000 gallons of water had flooded into the premises and fears the repair work will amount to "a complete shop fit".

Sub officer Mick Rowlands, of Kidderminster Fire Station, said the flood had affected at least two shops in Towers Buildings, with the Shuttle/Times & News next door to Hair Tec offices lucky to escape.

He added floods caused by burst frozen pipes had been a problem during the recent cold snap with his watch dealing with at least six cases.