Woman shot dead in salon

A West London beauty salon owner died after being shot in her shop by another woman today.

Shocked witnesses told how the victim, whose details have yet to be released by police but was known to other business people in the area as Lorna, was gunned down in front of a close friend.

The shooting took place as they oversaw renovations to the victim's premises in Chiswick High Road.

A 42-year-old woman was arrested and is being held at a west London police station.

The attacker, who is believed to have been known to her victim, entered the rear of the shop at about 10.30am. She went down into the basement where the victim was and unleashed a volley of shots.

The victim's terrified friend, who was unhurt, ran to a nearby fashion shop to raise the alarm.

Armed police raced to the scene and cordoned off the area as they prepared to deal with what was initially thought to be a hostage situation. Within a short period, armed officers entered the shop and were seen leading the suspect away in handcuffs.

An air-ambulance was called and paramedics fought in vain to save the victim's life. She was pronounced dead at 11.52am.

A 42-year-old woman was arrested by police. She is being held at a West London police station. Builders who were working upstairs at the time of the shooting, said they heard shots and screams and alleged that the shooting was the result of a personal feud.

One of the builders said: "We were working for the woman who owned the shop. She was a friend of mine but I don't want to go into details of what happened. All I can say is that this was over a personal argument that obviously got out of hand.

"She knew her killer - this wasn't some random person walking in off the street."

The manager of Boardwise, who gave his name only as Phil, told how the victim's friend ran into his shop in a state of "sheer terror" after witnessing the shooting. He said: "It was a very quiet day and then all of a sudden this woman ran in through the door screaming and crying. She was just saying, 'Help me, someone please help me, my friend's been shot. Call an ambulance'.

"We called the police and tried to calm her down until they got here but she was in a terrible state. This is an absolute tragedy, Lorna was a lovely woman and some of the staff here used to go to her for reflexology.

"She was well known to the people in the area and this will come as a massive shock to everyone. I've never seen anything like this in Chiswick High Road."

It is understood that the shop had been empty for the past four months following a serious fire.