THE owners of a historic hotel damaged by a road sweeper has urged East Riding Council not to punish him.
The portico stands as the grand entrance to the lovingly restored Lowther Hotel in Goole which withstood a zeppelin attack in the First World War.
But the structure was nearly destroyed by a humble roadsweeper this week.
The vehicle was caught on CCTV crashing into one of the columns, almost causing the entrance to the Aire street hotel to collapse.
But owner Howard Duckworth believes you have to see the funny side and feels the driver's embarrassment is punishment enough.
Mr Duckworth said: "Nobody got hurt, which is the main thing and I think it is funny.
"The road sweepers have done a brilliant job cleaning up the area.
"I feel for the driver – it was just an accident.
"A slap on the wrist is fine but I wouldn't want to see him disciplined any further.
"He is already very embarrassed and that's enough.
"I would urge the council not to take action. In a few years, the worker will be able to tell his grandchildren about this and have a laugh about it."
Masons from York Minster were due to come round yesterday to assess the damage which could cost £20,000 to fix.
Mr Duckworth said: "This is the only sloping portico in the country and was designed that way to support the cannon above.
"Our concern was that it is 25 tonnes and could easily kill someone. But we have the scaffolding up now to make it safe.
"It is somewhat ironic that the portico could survive a zeppelin attack but was nearly undone by a road sweeper."
The hotel has released the CCTV footage of the crash on YouTube. Mr Duckworth says he hopes the video will create publicity for the town.
He said: "Strangely, this has all given publicity for the town.
"We have posted the video on YouTube and we hope it will go viral."
East Riding Council says it has already contacted the hotel to apologise.
Nigel Leighton, director of environment and neighbourhood services, said: "The council is aware of an incident involving one of our road sweepers causing damage to the Lowther Hotel and I have contacted the owners personally to apologise.
"This is a regrettable incident and we will investigate as a matter of urgency and take any and all appropriate action.
"The authority's building control officers have been sent to Goole to inspect the damage and help ensure public safety and we will work closely with the hotel to rectify the situation as soon as possible."
