Medieval row of shops damaged by lorry

A building in York which is over 700 years old has been damaged by an HGV for the fourth time in recent years, its owners have said.

The Old York Tea Room, which dates back to 1316 and is part of the Grade I listed Lady Row on Goodramgate, was hit by a lorry on Friday morning.

The owners of the tea room said it would remain closed until 13 March so surveyors could assess the damage.

Tony Vickers, the tea room's co-owner, explained: "The render has been removed by the vehicle and it's now exposing the historical woodwork inside and it's exposed to the elements."

He said that since he and his husband had taken over the medieval site in 2022, the building had twice been damaged by a lorry, including Friday's incident.

Meanwhile, he explained the previous owners had said there were two earlier incidents.

Vickers said he had now had to get an insurance claim under way to pay for the damage caused to the business.

"The biggest cost to us is not actually going to be cost of repair, it's going to be the cost of the loss of earnings," he said.

"At the moment, we can't use the tea room as intended because all our seats are upstairs where the damage has happened."

Geoffrey Harvey, who owns Classix piercing studio on the opposite side of Goodramgate, said HGVs often caused problems on the street.

"Lorries start delivering sometimes at six or seven o'clock in the morning," he said.

"Trucks pull quite a bit further forward so that trucks coming up from behind can see what's going on, but even so, they seem to clip the edge of that building."

Pat Cullum, from Holy Trinity Church, located behind Lady Row, said damage by vehicles was "a real problem" on the street.

"That corner of Lady Row seems to be particularly vulnerable to damage by traffic," she said.

"My fear is that at some point there will be a very serious collision and the damage might be irreparable."

It is thought that Lady Row, which is also known as Our Lady's Row, is the oldest surviving row of houses in York.

Listen to highlights from North Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.