A hair salon could be closed for more than a week after the shop was hit by a "devastating" arson attack.

The owners of Unique Hair Salon, in West Bowling, Bradford, were forced to cancel a dozen appointments over the weekend, losing out on nearly £1,000 of revenue.

Firefighters said the blaze at the salon in Murgatroyd Street started when a flammable liquid was poured through the letter box and set alight.

The blaze, at 2am on Saturday, caused fire damage to the area around the door, heat damage to the ceiling and smoke-logging to the rest of the building.

Elinaty Simpasa, joint-owner of the business, went to examine the damage as soon as she heard the news.

Looking round the premises, she said: "This is really devastating and so sad because we will have to cancel a lot of appointments."

Her husband Charles Simpasa said: "I'm absolutely gutted by what's happened. We have cancelled seven appointments on Saturday and five on Sunday at £80 a time so imagine the loss of revenue. Cancelled appointments lead to loss of customers and that does not auger well for business.

"This is our busy time because everyone is preparing for Christmas. It could take a week and a half to reopen."

Mr Simpasa said the salon specialised in providing haircuts for the Afro-Caribbean community.

He said: "This is a very nasty incident.

It might be a racist incident because we have always had the feeling we are not welcome here. It's a mostly Asian area and there were always undertones when we used to live around here.

"We started the business here in August and we wanted to show our whole community that we could succeed in business - to set an example that enterprise is an alternative to joblessness. Then something like this happens."

Mr and Mrs Simpasa spent Saturday assessing the damage, trying to contact insurers and clearing up the mess.

Firefighters from Odsal took about 20 minutes to bring the flames under control and remained at the shop for two hours to make the scene safe.

A spokesman for West Yorkshire Police said: "Police are currently making inquiries."

e-mail: will.kilner @bradford.newsquest.co.uk