York hair salon switches to mineral water after pipe bursts

An enterprising hairdresser has used bottled water to keep her business open after a supply outage hit a village.

Caren Vollans, from Vision Hair & Beauty in Haxby, bought “a car full” of mineral water on Thursday morning to ensure she did not have to cancel any appointments.

It came after a burst pipe on the northern side of York left thousands of properties without running water.

Yorkshire Water later said supplies were returning to normal in the area.

Ms Vollans told BBC Look North she reacted quickly after receiving a text from Yorkshire Water informing her of the supply problem.

She said: “I just went over (to the shops) and got stocked up and brought the water across, ready to get started.”

Ms Vollans said her staff were initially stressed by the taps being off, but said they “soon calmed down”.

“We got the kettles boiled and got started old school,” she added.

“We haven’t cancelled anybody. We had a lot of people calling up asking to see if we were still open and we said ‘Yes, absolutely’. Everybody’s had a nice mineral water hair wash this morning.”

One of Ms Vollans’ customers, Emma Hartley, praised the salon and other local business owners for their “tenacity” in carrying on under the circumstances.

She said: “I was a bit concerned they wouldn’t have the water on when I came across this morning. But I did come over because I knew Caren would have a plan like she always does.

“It’s not ideal for people, but there’s a real positive come out of what’s happened this morning.”