Man (18) charged after car crashes into historic building near Boston on Christmas Day
A man has been charged with drink-driving after a car crashed into a historic building – currently a bar, bistro and hotel – on Christmas Day morning.
Lincolnshire Police was alerted to the incident at the Old King’s Head, Kirton, just before 5.30am on Thursday.
A spokesman for the force said: “Officers attended and found three occupants of the car at the scene. Nobody was seriously injured, and one man was arrested and charged with drink-driving in connection with the incident.”
The man – an 18-year-old from Boston – has been bailed to appear at Boston Magistrates’ Court in the new year.
The Old King’s Head is a Grade II listed building, meaning it is classed by Historic England as ‘of special interest’.
The former 16th century coaching inn was turned into a public house in 1676, before being converted into a residential premises in the 1960s.
Between 2016 and 2021, the building underwent a £2.4m restoration project to bring it into community use. It currently trades as a bistro, bar and hotel.
Writing on Facebook on Christmas Day, the business posted: “Unfortunately, a car has hit the building in the early hours of this morning. Fortunately, we believe everyone involved is ok. Our hotel guests had an early morning shock. There is significant structural damage. We are closed Christmas Day and Boxing Day and we have a structural engineer on site now assessing the damage. We hope to be able to re-open as normal on December 27, but will provide an update as soon as possible.”
It closed by thanking everyone for their ‘kind messages’, adding: “We really appreciate the offers of help and support.”
An update the following day revealed the business was able to open as normal on Saturday, as hoped. A further post added that existing bookings were confirmed.