Police interview man after driver in a digger smashes up new Travelodge in Liverpool

Detectives will be interviewing a man as part of an ongoing investigation into the destruction of a Travelodge reception by a driver using a digger.

Merseyside Police say they have "located a man" after he had been seen locally and they will be questioning him.

Footage of the incident, which contains explicit language, has been shared widely online.

One man was treated for eye irritation due to exposure to diesel according to Merseyside Police.

It is believed thousands of pounds worth of damage was caused by the digger at the new Travelodge hotel on Edge Lane in Liverpool which was due to be completed that day.

“The handover was today, everything completed, we’d put the last tile in, cleaned up and made sure everything was perfect,” ceiling fixer Samuel White, 24, told the Press Association on Monday.

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

Mr White repeated claims made by many on social media that the driver of the digger was angry over a pay dispute said to involve £600.

He said the destruction, which started shortly before 3pm, went on for “a good 20 or 30 minutes” before the driver left the vehicle and ran off.

“There were loads of workers outside all gobsmacked, jaws to the floor wondering what’s going on,” said Mr White.

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