A HOLYWELL plant hire firm has denounced the actions of a man who drove a digger through the lobby of a Liverpool hotel.

On Monday shocking footage was revealed of a disgruntled man driving a mini-digger into a recently constructed Travelodge near to Edge Road.

Thomas Plant Hire, based on the A55 near Holywell, provided the vehicle on a self-drive basis, and have made it know that they were not involved in the incident.

A statement posted online from the firm read: "Thomas Plant Hire would like to denounce and distance ourselves from the act of criminal damage that occurred at the Travelodge, Edge Lane.

"The machine used was on hire from ourselves on a self-drive basis. For those of you not familiar with this, it means we supplied the machine to site to one of our customers. We did not supply the driver. We have no relationship with the person involved whatsoever.

The Leader:

"Very luckily nobody was injured. We as a reputable plant hire business would like to wish all the staff both from the hotel and any other workforce present our sincere regret of the incident and unfortunately it being one of our machines that was used.

Ceiling fixer Samuel White, 24, told the Press Association on Monday: "The handover was today, everything completed, we'd put the last tile in, cleaned up and made sure everything was perfect.

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

There were construction workers inside the hotel at the time and Merseyside Police said one man was treated for eye irritation due to exposure to diesel, but did not believe anyone else was injured.

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."

Police are also appealing for information following the rampage.