A lorry crashed into the front of a popular high street tapas and wine bar.

A 7.5 tonne heavy goods vehicle seriously misjudged the turning when attempting to pull out onto Wivenhoe High Street from its junction with West Street at around 3pm on Tuesday.

Luckily the premises was empty at the time, however, the historic 15th century building suffered significant cosmetic damage in the impact.

Crawford Stirling opened The Orange Tree just a few months ago in June.

He said: “I received a phone call from a friend of mine who works opposite the restaurant.

“They saw what happened and called the police. I got myself straight down there as quick as I could.

“Basically a 7.5 tonne lorry tried to turn the corner out of West Street into the High Street but became stuck.

“It got stuck and then took part of the building with it.”

Essex Police was forced to briefly close the road whilst the area was made safe and a structural engineer was called out to inspect the building.

Mr Stirling said: “The engineers came and gave the building a clean bill of health and luckily we were able to open in the evening.

“It was quite a relief to hear that and obviously we were keen to keep trading if possible.

“It was the talk of the town yesterday and most people in Wivenhoe know about it.”

The roads in Wivenhoe town centre are notoriously narrow and West Street is unsuitable for heavy vehicles.

However, the lorry, which belonged to freight company Bartrums, was caught out whilst attending a job in the town.

Mr Stirling, who also owns Maison Mollie coffee shop in Grosvenor House, Wivenhoe, added: “Most people know about the turning and would not attempt it in a vehicle like that.

“It is obvious there was no way he was going to get around the corner.

“The thing which makes it worse though is that he should have stopped as soon as he touched the building.”

Since it opened in the summer, The Orange Tree has proved to be a popular addition to Wivenhoe High Street, however, Mr Stirling believes the business’ location does leave it vulnerable to similar incidents happening again.

“The Orange Tree is a bit niche and there is nothing else like it in Wivenhoe really,” he said.

“It would be nice if there was a concrete bollard put on the corner or something to protect us.

“The main thing though is that no-one was hurt and there is no serious damage to the building.”

Essex Police were called to the scene at 3.05pm.

A spokesman confirmed the driver of the lorry was reported on suspicion of careless driving.

An Essex Highways spokesperson said: “It would be very helpful if the property owner could contact the Essex County Councillor for Wivenhoe so it could be dealt with at the Colchester Local Highway Panel.

“If Satnav or delivery routes lead here, then the road may need warning signs or potentially other measures including clearer signing ahead of junctions.

"This is something that the highway panel could look into.”

The Gazette contacted Bartrums but it did not respond by the time of going to press.