RUGBY player Garry Boocock has been hailed a hero after stopping the man who was rampaging through a Liverpool Travelodge in a digger.

The one-eyed lift contractor ran to the rescue, pulling one man out of the way of the digger and then disabling the machine before it could cause more havoc in the car park.

Dramatic online footage shows the 38-year-old Keighley Lifts manager dodging the swinging bucket of the digger to pull out the fuel lines, getting sprayed with diesel for his efforts.

Garry, 38, who is more used to stopping rampaging rugby league players for his hometown team Keighley Albion, said: "I was there testing the lift when I heard a massive crash.

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"My first instinct was that it was a bomb but it was a crazy bloke."

He said after trashing the newly-completed Travelodge's reception area the digger driver was on his way out of the building when he leapt into action.

Gary dragged a site manager for Liversedge firm Triton Construction out of the way and then turned his attention to stopping the machine in its tracks with another man.

"I told him the way we can do it is pull the fuel lines off it.

"The guy was on one, Royal style. God knows how much further he would have got if we hadn't stopped him."

Garry, who lost an eye when he fell out of a tree as an 11-year-old, had his vision impaired by the diesel and had to be treated at Airedale Hospital last night when he got home from Liverpool and was off work today.

He said he had been bombarded with videos of Monday's incident by other people who were there and told his story on the Jeremy Vine programme on Radio 2 at lunchtime.

"I'm splattered all over the internet. It was surreal for it to be happening."

The digger driver's rampage was reportedly triggered by a dispute over a £600 payment he was allegedly owed and Garry said he could understand the man's grievance which, he thought, might have been caused by a banking glitch on Friday.

He was praised by his mum Vanda who said he acted like a hero.

She said: "It scared me to death when I saw my son in the footage.

"If he hadn't thrown himself to the floor he would have been hit by the bucket."

Triton Construction, the principal contractor on the project on Edge Lane, Liverpool, issued a statement.

It said: "It is our understanding that one of the labourers, working for MF Construction (who were employed as the groundwork’s sub-contractor for the project) had been waiting for his manager to arrive with his wages, which he told other workers on site were overdue. It is alleged that the labourer couldn’t track down the owner of MF Construction and he became increasingly frustrated.

"At approximately 3pm, the labourer took it upon himself to drive a small mini excavator through the front entrance screen of the hotel and subsequently causing damage to finishes within the reception area.

"Fortunately, there were no injuries to staff members or other operatives, sub-contractors on site. Additionally, there is no structural damage, so repairs can be undertaken relatively quickly."

A man is to be interviewed by detectives investigating the incident, Merseyside Police have said. A force spokesman said: "A man has since been located and will be interviewed as part of the ongoing investigation."

Anyone with information is asked to contact the force's social media desk via Twitter @MerPolCC or Facebook Merseyside Police CC. They can also call 101 quoting reference 19100021276 or contact the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously, on 0800 555 111.