A salon has been taken a hit after a woman received £160 worth of hair treatments and left without paying, leaving a suspected stolen handbag behind her. 

Ooh La La on Risbygate Street in Bury St Edmunds is a brand-new hair, nail and aesthetics salon that opened in February this year. 

Yesterday (November 16) the salon was the subject of a scam that has affected numerous businesses in the local area. 

"She was a new customer who messaged to book an appointment on Instagram," said salon owner Emily Curtis. 

"When she walked in she looked nothing like her picture, so we questioned it and she said that it was her niece's account."

East Anglian Daily Times: The salon released some CCTV images of the suspected thief on their social mediaThe salon released some CCTV images of the suspected thief on their social media (Image: Ooh La La)

The customer then had several hours' worth of treatments, including a colour, tone and cut, which cost around £160 in total. 

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When she went to pay, there was an issue with her card payment, and she left her bag on the desk while she went to get another bank card from her car.

She never returned to the salon and, growing suspicious, the employees looked in the bag, which was empty and still had tags on it.

"My girls are all self-employed," said Ms Curtis. 

"She has missed out on her earnings.

"What is lovely is that a couple came in earlier after hearing what had happened and gave her some money. 

"The community support has been amazing."

Since launching an appeal on the Ooh La La social pages, Ms Curtis has been contacted by three other aesthetic businesses in the local area that has been targeted in the last week. 

A spokeswoman for Suffolk police said: "Police have received reports of an incident of theft from a hair salon in Bury St Edmunds, where a woman left without paying for the services provided."

Anyone with information about the incident should contact Suffolk police quoting 37/66789/23.