Don’t Forget to Pay the Piper, especially if he has a Digger!

Main Photo:  Disgruntled tradesman smashes into Travelodge Liverpool

Date: January 2019

Location: Innovation Park part of Liverpool, Merseyside, UK

Name: Travelodge Liverpool Edge Lane

No. of Keys: 79

Owner: Capital & Centric, bought the site in April 2017, which was the 180,000 sq. ft. art deco Littlewoods building.

What Happened: A digger driver has been filmed smashing up a new hotel in Liverpool on the day it was due to be completed – allegedly because he had not been paid.

Footage posted on social media shows the ponderous machine being driven up some steps towards the entrance of a Travelodge being built in the Innovation Park area of the city.

The digger crashes into doors and windows, sending shards of glass and door posts crashing to the ground.

During the driver’s initial attempt to break through, the digger falls back down the steps, drawing gasps from onlookers who were “gobsmacked, jaws to the floor”, one observer said.

When he tries again, though, he gets into the reception area as the sound of destruction echoes around the car park.

A man can be heard saying on the video: “That’s what happens when people don’t pay their wages.”

The rampage went on for “a good 20 or 30 minutes”, ceiling fixer Samuel White said.

“The handover was today, everything completed, we’d put the last tile in, cleaned up and made sure everything was perfect,” he added.

“Then some idiot in a mini digger decided to drive through the middle of the building.”

He continued: “There were loads of workers outside all gobsmacked, jaws to the floor wondering what’s going on.

“The site manager was running around like a headless chicken – he wasn’t happy at all.”

Merseyside Police say they heard just before 3pm on Monday that the digger was “being driven into the entrance of the Travelodge building in the Liverpool Innovation Park”.

They are appealing for more information on the incident.

One man was treated by paramedics due to exposure to diesel, but no one else was injured.

Postscript: Feb 14th 2019…

A 35-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of causing criminal damage with intent to endanger life after a digger was driven through the entrance of an under-construction Travelodge in Liverpool.

On 21 January, police were called to the hotel at Liverpool Innovation Park following reports a digger had been driven into it. An appeal later stated that the driver had left the vehicle and made off on foot.

Police today arrested a man from the Netherton area in relation to the incident. He was also arrested on suspicion of an S47 assault in relation to a separate incident in Broadgreen.

He remains in custody where he will be questioned by detectives.

 THPT Comment: Interesting method of credit control!

First Seen: Sky News

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