Licensee of the Black Bull in Donington, Malcolm Mills told the Lincolnshire Echo he was woken soon after 3.20am by his pub reverberating from the impact of the tractor repeatedly battering into the wall of the Co-op next door.
Wake and shake
He said: “I was asleep and was awoken by a huge bang so I woke my wife and she got on the phone to the police and I put my head out the window with the camera and tried to take photographs as it was going on but I was shaking so much.
“The pub does shake a bit when lorries go past but not like this. It shook again and again from the impact.
“I thought someone was trying to take the benches outside the pub so ran to the window and saw the tractor.
“There was rubble everywhere. It is awful.”
Attempted theft
Lincolnshire police have confirmed they are investigating the attempted theft of the neighbouring ATM machine.
Police said in a statement: “At around 3.20am on Thursday 29 September, a John Deere tractor was used in an attempt to remove the ATM from the wall of the Co-op store.
“The attempt was unsuccessful and the offenders left the scene in a dark 4x4 flatbed vehicle and a dark blue saloon car.
“The investigation is ongoing."