A beauty therapist said her brand new car was splattered with cement dropped from a nearby building site.

Mitra Johnston claims the cement incident is the second time construction work nearby has caused upset for her and others in the area.

She works in the London Beauty Clinic on King Street, in between Front and Reid Streets - right next door to a new building that is being constructed on the corner of King and Reid Streets.

The trouble began, Ms Johnston claims, when the old building which stood on the construction site was brought down - without, she says, any notice being given to those in the building next door. Aside from the London Beauty Clinic, that building also houses two hair salons and a tattoo parlour.

“There was a client next door getting a tattoo,” Ms Johnston said, when the old building came down, to the shock of those next door.

The collapse of the building, she continued, smashed a window and an air conditioner in the tattoo parlour, which faces the construction site. “She was lucky she was not injured,” she said

“We had to close the shop for three days because the Health Department came and said we couldn't work with the glass everywhere. They (the construction company) didn't pay us a penny in compensation.”

Most of the clients in that three days had been off the cruise ships, she added - clients who could not reschedule. Although a new air conditioner is in place, she added, the window has not yet been fixed either - it is simply boarded up.

Yesterday morning Ms Johnston drove to work in her brand new car, “I parked the car outside,” she said. “And they dropped the cement all on this brand new car!”

It appeared as though some cement had dropped from the construction site and splattered not only the sidewalks, but also Ms Johnston's car and several bikes that were nearby.

A workman was sent to wash the cement off before it dried, but traces of the cement still appear on the bikes.

“I am upset, these people don't care,” Ms Johnston said. “They should have more consideration. We got a legitimate business going here, but it looks like a mess.”

Walter Brangman, who is constructing the building, told The Royal Gazette that there was never any intention for anything to go wrong or anyone to get hurt. “Certain things happen that we don't plan,” he said.