By Bryan Kay

LIGHTNING STRUCK for a third time at a Dundee pub during yesterday’s early morning thunderstorms.

Staff at the Bush Bar in Seagate were left reeling after being hit by disaster on three separate occasions in less than 24 hours.

Events manager James Millar said he felt like he had woken up on Groundhog Day.

The pub was hit first by a small fire, then flooded by a leakage in a flat above the premises and, finally, struck by the sudden bout of flash floods which occurred overnight on Thursday and into yesterday.

Mr Millar said both staff and punters were gobsmacked by the triple whammy.

“It all started at about 1 pm yesterday when the bar was quiet and we thought we’d put some music on,” he said.

“One of the customers reported a strong smell of smoke so I went outside to see if it was the ashtrays because that seemed the likely place to look.

“But it wasn’t and then I went to check the music equipment and saw flames shooting out.

“We switched everything off, emptied the pub and managed to extinguish the fire ourselves.”

The bar was then reopened, Mr Millar continued. But further drama was just hours away.

“At about 10pm water started to trickle down from the roof,” said Mr Millar.

“It was coming from a third level flat and travelling right down.

The police and public works came out and they had apparently secured the property and rectified the problem. We left a few buckets overnight just in case.”

Their apparent lack of faith in the patch-up job was to prove wise after surveying the scene on arrival at work yesterday.

“We came in in the morning and it was like a swamp,” Mr Millar went on.

“We got everyone in to help clean up the bar. As if that wasn’t enough, there was flood damage from the storm.

“Our basement was flooded. Beer kegs and electrical equipment stored down there were floating around.

“We also had water coming up out of the toilets and had to shut off the men’s. We managed to open at 11am but had to close off the front part to begin with.”

The musical equipment at the centre of the fire drama has been sent to the manufacturers, with early indications suggesting problems with a fuse.

Police attended the scene to help gain access to the property causing the leak.

A spokesperson said, “Water was flooding from above and was causing problems. We attended alongside the public works, who were speaking to the occupiers.”