Thai Square forced to close after site is struck by bus
A Thai Square outlet based in a building that survived the Great Fire of London will close after a bus rammed into the facade of the historic site.
The 341 night service bus crashed into the shopfront at 3:59am after coming off the road on Fleet Street opposite the Royal Courts of Justice. Officials have so far been unable to confirm what caused the driver to divert across the pavement and into the restaurant.
Images from the scene show that the building's rare stained glass windows have been smashed, while holes have been punched through the brickwork at the base of both the ground and first floors of the site.
A TFL spokesman confirmed the road was reopened around an hour after the collision, and no one was injured as a result of the incident. A spokesman for transport company Arriva, that manages the service, confirmed a full and thorough investigation is underway into the circumstances of the crash.
It is not the first time Thai Square has struggled due to unforseen circumstances. Their site on Islington high street was forced to close for almost a year after a pipe burst along the street, causing significant flooding to nearby businesses.
Owner Haim Danous told The Caterer: "It's good that he only hit the side, so the side has collapsed a little bit but we can fix it. It won't be like Islington which was closed for one year, I think here it will be more like three months".
The building is a combination of two sites from the 17th century - the oldest established in 1625, before the Great Fire of London. It is believed to have been one of the few to have survived the blaze of 1666, and originally served as a snack bar for people visiting the area to see the severed heads of criminals lined along temple bar gate.
The site will now shut up shop as repairs are made. Google listings for the site describe it as "temporarily closed".