TROUBLE came in threes at one Whitefield pub, which suffered a triple dose of disaster in 24 hours.

Between the early hours of Saturday morning and the early hours of Sunday morning, August 22-23, the Cross Keys pub on Lily Hill Street.Z.Z.

Suffered a mini flood when an ill-fitted washing machine leaked, causing water to pour into the bar area and the TV to explode.

Had a car crash into the pub wall, sending bricks flying and customers tumbling.

Was burgled, during which an £800 window was smashed, gaming machines destroyed and their £200 contents stolen.

"We certainly don't do things by halves here," said pub landlord Chris Sansom, who despite his run of bad luck, said it was "business as usual".

After staff had finished mopping up following the leak, which flooded the upstairs living quarters, Sunday afternoon drinking was brought to an abrupt end at 1.40pm, when a car spun out of control and smashed into the front of the pub.

The crash happened when a Peugeot 205, driven by Francis Rafferty, 48, of Doncaster, collided with a Honda saloon, driven by Alan Robinson, also 48, of Bury New Road, Whitefield. As a result of the crash, the Honda went on to hit the pub wall, which will now have to be demolished and re-built.

Pub regular, Ken Smith, 60, of Sawley Avenue, Whitefield, was sent flying by the impact, and ended up on the floor.

He said: "There was an almighty bang and the impact threw me forward," he said. "It was a terrible shock."

Later that night, the pub was struck again, this time by thieves, who smashed an £800 glass window to reach the fruit machines inside.

Mr Sansom said: "The bloke who was reading his newspaper got a bit of a shock when the car hit the wall. And unfortunately the thieves came back and smashed the window the car missed. We've had three things now, so hopefully that's our lot."

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