A hotel front porch was badly damaged in Kington after a lorry delivering goods to a Co-Operative supermarket crashed into it.

Police cordons were put in place around the fully-booked Burton Hotel following the accident on Tuesday night.

The entire porch was removed from the front of the ex-coaching inn, which has been around since the 1800s, including the porch roof, two concrete pillars, concrete slabs, the brickwork and a large plant which sat on the porch-top.

Nobody was hurt during the crash, however parts of the first floor could be seen through missing chunks of the front wall.

To ensure guest-safety, the hotel moved any affected guests from the rooms near the site of impact to self-catering units in the hotel’s garden.

Approximately 35 firefighters from Hereford and Worcester attended with four appliances from Kington, Eardisley and Hereford.

A specialist team from Droitwich also came to the rescue to make sure the building was safe for staff and guests overnight.

Jack Robins, who is one of the managers at the hotel, said: "The lorry took it it wide because there was a car at the junction, and even though the front part made it past the trailer collided with the porch and dragged it across causing it to be dragged from the building."

Mr Robins, who was in the room he stays in while he's at work, said that a road has been closed near the roundabout.

He said that as a result bigger vehicles, like the Co-Op delivery lorry, have been taking the bypass and coming down the hill past the Spar store to make deliveries.

He also said that they are unsure of how long the repairs are going to take and how much they will cost, but that they are hopeful that the hotel will not have to close during the repairs.

He said: "We've still got rooms at the back which can be used. It has been a little bit quieter but it fortunately hasn't had a real affect on business.

"Our customers have just been coming around to the side door rather than using the front door. Our locals know we're still opening, but walking customers may not know because it may look like we're closed from the front."

Mr Robins was in his room when he heard a loud bang which rattled the hotel.

He said: "I thought it was just thunder at first, but after my manager called me asking me to come downstairs I looked at the cameras and saw that the front of the hotel had gone.

"My colleague Charlotte was in the bar at the time and she said the whole bar shook."