‘My clients are having to hop around lakes of water – it’s awful’: Beauty salon owner

A salon owner says her staff and customers have been plagued by ‘awful’ puddles of water on the pavement outside her business.

Debbie Morris runs the Nikki-Leigh Studio on Duchess Street Parade, in Oldham. She has fired off repeated complaints about the water outside her permises, which sometimes floods during heavy rain.

And the 52-year-old says her clients are having to hop round ‘lakes of water’ to get into her salon every time its wet.

“The problem is that the pavement here is lower than the road,” she said.

“In bad weather, this is very dangerous because the water freezes. Some of the clients who come to see us are elderly and are really scared when it’s flooded, and it can get really icy. My clients are having to hop around lake water – it’s awful.

“The pooling of water sometimes washes into the shop and has ruined my flooring. In my view, the council is at fault for ignoring me and for making the road worse.”

Debbie, who has run the salon for 10 years, contacted her local councillor Louie Hamblett. He accused the council of ‘failing to carry out even the most basic level of communication’.

He said: “This case is all the more frustrating because it seems that pothole repairs carried out by the council have actually caused the road to now be level with the footpath.  Since then, it feels like the council is doing everything it can to avoid taking responsibility for this issue.”

He went on: “I have received emails pointing to the cost of repair work and the fact there is no issue of flooding in the area, yet I beg to differ as evidenced from the photos Mrs Morris and other residents have sent me.”

However, responding to the complaints, Coun Chris Goodwin, Oldham council’s cabinet member for transport and highways, said “We sympathise with the issues being faced here, so we are looking into the possibility of additional kerbing works to mitigate the water pooling issues. We are hopeful that this will address the issue.”