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Lorry driver fined for Woodbridge pub damage

News imageBBC Ye Olde Bell and Steelyard, WoodbridgeBBC
The old weighing machine on the side of Ye Olde Bell and Steelyard was hit by the lorry on 10 April

A lorry driver has been fined after causing more than £10,000 worth of damage to a historic pub.

Tamer Acar, 50, from Lincoln, admitted careless driving and failing to stop after the incident in Woodbridge, Suffolk, on 10 April.

The HGV he was driving struck the Grade I-listed old weighing machine at Ye Olde Bell & Steelyard.

Magistrates in Ipswich gave Acar seven penalty points on his driving licence and ordered him to pay £683.

News imageGeograph/Jo Turner Ye Olde Bell & Steelyard, WoodbridgeGeograph/Jo Turner
The weighing machine (pictured before it was hit) preceded the public weighbridges which vehicles drive onto today
News imageGoogle New Street, WoodbridgeGoogle
A photo from before the collision shows the overhanging weighbridge, which traffic has to pass under heading downhill on the one-way street

The court heard Acar, a Turkish national, ignored a 14ft 6in (4.4m) height restriction sign in New Street before hitting the Grade I-listed structure.

Magistrates were told the landlord was woken up at about 07:00 BST by a loud bang which he described was "like a bomb going off".

When he saw the damage, police viewed the pub's CCTV and Acar was later found in his lorry in a lay-by on the A14, the prosecution told the court.

Prosecutors told the court the damage was still being repaired and it would cost more than £10,000.

News imageGoogle New Street/Chapel Street junction, WoodbridgeGoogle
The 14'6" height restriction sign is at the New Street's junction with Chapel Street

During mitigation, it was heard Acar had heard a noise but was not aware of any damage.

Acar, of Caistor Close, had held a clean UK HGV licence for 10 years, the court was told.