The fine new Travelodge hotel was complete and ready to open, its lobby was polished and gleaming – when suddenly a disgruntled builder who reckoned he had been underpaid, smashed his digger through the hotel’s glass doors and proceeded to systematically demolish the entire reception area, with dramatic video footage flashed around the world.
Footage shows the digger driver destroying the lobby of a brand-new, multi-storey Travelodge hotel in the English city of Liverpool, over an alleged shortfall of GBP 600 (AUD 1100) in the driver’s wages.
The destruction was unleashed on the same day that builders finished work on the new property.
Britain’s Sun newspaper, always good with a headline, called the event: BED AND WRECKFAST.
The orgy of destruction can be viewed below. Some of the language is a bit rich but the accent is great.
The digger driver uses the loading arm of the machine to smash as much as he can – and nobody dares to get in his way.
https://youtu.be/A0V-glcDFgU
A co-worker can be heard shouting: “That’s what happens when people don’t pay your wages, mate.”
Another yells: “All you had to do was pay him f****** 600 pounds!”
A source told the Sun: “Nobody could believe their eyes. The man just went crazy.”
Witnesses 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.
“The site manager was running around like a headless chicken, he wasn’t happy at all.”
Police are investigating.
In a strange sequel, a crowdfunding page has been set up to raise the amount the unnamed builder reckons he was owed – the equivalent of AUD 1100. Within a few hours the amount raised on the GoFundMe site passed that amount 10 times over, and it’s still rising fast.
Another peculiar touch is that the builder’s workmates say he had in fact been paid, he just hadn’t checked his bank account.
The builder may need the extra money for legal fees.
Written by Peter Needham
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