A hairdresser whose salons were hit by three floods in four months has threatened Yorkshire Water with legal action to reclaim thousands she says she is owed.

Claire Wilkinson has now re-opened Redheadz salon in Westgate, Shipley, after the latest flood at the shop earlier this month.

It happened when a mains sewage pipe burst, leaving the salon’s cellar awash with dirty nappies and faeces.

The flood was the third time in four months at the Shipley and Bingley Redheadz – including one which led to the permanent closure of the Bingley salon in Main Street.

Mrs Wilkinson, whose Shipley shop remains open despite the huge clean-up costs and loss of business, said she believes she should be compensated.

She said Yorkshire Water has offered her some compensation but she is prepared to take the Bradford-based water company to court for what she believes is a fair settlement of £8,000.

Mrs Wilkinson, 34, said: “Yorkshire Water have come back at me with a £1,000 offer and said they are not going to give me any more than that.

“They rang me last week and said that they are getting environmental health officers to look into it but I just feel like I’m being fobbed off and that they are shifting the blame.”

Earlier this month, Mrs Wilkinson said she was hanging on to her business ‘by the skin of her teeth’ following the second flood at Redheadz in Shipley.

She was forced to close down the Bingley branch after that too was flooded when another sewage pipe burst.

In a separate incident, workmen cut through underground power lines, leaving the Bingley shop with no electricity.

Mrs Wilkinson said she had now reduced prices at the Shipley salon after many customers believed it had been closed after the latest flood.

“It is unacceptable, so I’ve now threatened Yorkshire Water with legal action,” she said.

Yorkshire Water spokes-man, Aimee Laycock, said: “We have investigated the public sewers in the area using CCTV technology to check for problems and jetted them with high pressure water to free any potential blockages.

“The results of this work have found that the public sewers are running clear and indicate that the problems lie within private supply pipes which are the responsibility of the property owners.”