THE owner of a barber shop in Pudsey has provided an update for customers after a car smashed through the front of the shop in the early hours of Thursday.

A black Audi A4 smashed through the front of Philip Nicholas barbers and Creating Utopia tattoo studio in Bradford Road, Pudsey, in the early hours of Thursday, after driving down Richardshaw Lane at speed while being pursued by police.

The driver fled the scene, and a couple of hours later a man was arrested at a property in Pudsey for drink driving, failing to stop, and assaulting police officers. He was found with serious injuries by police.

Following the crash, Philip Townend, who runs the barber shop, gave an update on the scale of damage and how he was planning to keep business running despite the major setback.

He said: "As you may be aware, a car crashed through the window of James's (tattooist) room.

"Although the obvious damage is on his side, there is also significant damage on the barbers' side.

"The ceilings have had to be propped up on both sides, dividing walls have been demolished, the electrics aren't on and the water has had to be turned off as a pipe burst. Our temporary workstation was also destroyed.

"Thanks to everyone who has sent messages of support, supported us financially or sent messages of support. It's very much appreciated. We hope to be back soon."

The shop's team will be workign from other premises temporarily, Philip at Bella Bonce in Richardshaw Lane, Esmee at The H.I.V.E. which is opposite Philip Nicholas, and Lee and Jimmy are now operating out of The Edge in Morley.

A JustGiving campaign has also been set up to support the barbers and tattoo studio in getting their premises fixed and back up and running.

Steven Lightfoot, who has started the fundraiser, said: "Most of Pudsey, Farsley and Stanningley have seen the shocking pictures of a car hitting the front of a local Stanningley business.

"The guys running these businesses have been closed for months and just as they start to open again the business premises have been wrecked by a careless driver.

"I'd like to start a fund to raise money to help these guys get back on their feet as quickly as possible.

"Both [are] local business owners with families to feed and what has happened shouldn't have, we all know insurers are slow to pay out if insured for this type of incident."

The £2,000 target has already been surpassed in less than 24 hours.