Video: Road sweeper crashes into Grade II listed hotel causing £10k damage

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The moment a hapless road sweeper crashed into a Grade II listed hotel causing £10,000 worth of damage has been caught on camera.

The council worker crashed into the 190-year-old Lowther Hotel in Goole, East Yorkshire, when he was trying to squeeze his vehicle between the pillar and a parked 4x4.

Hotel manager Rik Duckworth told the Yorkshire Post: "I looked at the CCTV and I was amazed at what I was seeing and I didn't know whether to be angry, upset or just laugh.

"If the sweeper had twisted the pillar by another three inches, the full portico could have collapsed and crushed anything in its path.

"The incident was not brought to our attention for another 40 minutes, and we had around 50 guests arriving for breakfast meetings walking under the entrance. It could have been catastrophic.

"I phoned the police who cordoned off the area and I looked through the CCTV to find it was a road sweeper.

"I was angry to see that the sweeper had just driven off without any apology given at the time. There must have been some force and power behind the sweeper to cause the pillar to twist."

The street sweeper was operated by East Riding of Yorkshire Council, who apologised for the "regrettable incident", which is being dealt with by their insurance company.

According to the Daily Mail, the hotel was bought by Mr Duckworth's parents in 2008. They have since spent £2 million over three years on restoring it.

Rik said the damage had left the front of the hotel looking "like a building site", affecting upcoming weddings being held there.

He told the Daily Mail: "We want to get this fixed as soon as we possibly can but we're waiting for the report from the structural engineer first. The hotel is currently covered in scaffolding and it looks like a building site rather than a place to stay."

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