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."

Image: The digger was driven into reception

The incident 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."

Mr White repeated claims that the digger driver was angry over a pay dispute said to involve £600.

Merseyside Police, who are appealing for information, said 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".

The force added: "The driver then left the vehicle and made off on foot in the direction of Edge Lane."

One man's eyes were irritated because of exposure to diesel and he was treated by paramedics, but no one else was injured.

The local fire service and contractors made sure the site was safe.

Travelodge told Sky News it would not be commenting on an ongoing investigation.

:: Anyone with information should call 101, quoting incident reference 19100021276. Alternatively they can call Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.