THE boss of a popular sandwich shop is delighted to be back earning a crust after a three-month enforced closure because of a devastating leak.

Work on the Head Street Sandwich Bar began in the first weekend of December when Saturday staff noticed dripping from the ceiling in the Colchester town centre shop.

After three months of lost trade, staff were finally able to reopen their doors to hungry customers yesterday.

Sarah Wade, who has owned the business for three years, said the water which was coming from the ceiling caused a huge amount of damage to the building, and a number of electrical items.

She said: “My staff called me on the Saturday it happened saying there was a little leak, but by the time I got there it was absolutely dripping wet.

“We were obviously forced to close for the day and the letting company was able to get someone out there and then to take a look.

“After the full assessment the whole of the ceiling had to be taken down and all of the electrical items had to be written off because they were so full of water.

“It has taken us until now to get everything sorted out.”

Mrs Wade said the timing of the problems could not have been worse, as December is traditionally the best time of year for businesses who take advantage of increased footfall caused by Christmas shoppers.

She said: “We ended up losing December too, as well as much of February.

“But now we are really pleased to back up and running.

“We have already had some really good feedback from customers who were saying they had missed us but were really glad we were back open.

“It is really good to hear something like that.”

As well as overseeing the refurbishment, Mrs Wade is also heavily pregnant, but said she was determined to see the store reopened before taking time out to look after her impending arrival.

She said: “It has been the most stressful time trying to oversee everything and to top things off I am quite heavily pregnant as well.

“I was just determined to get things done and get the store reopened before going off on maternity leave.

“But now I am so relieved and happy everything is sorted.”

From tomorrow, the store will be open from 6.30am for breakfast servings.