‘The police were here within minutes, and the ambulance too’
The scene of a crash in Hotwells, just before 3am on Saturday, June 20, 2026. The driver of a Ford Ka was arrested after it smashed into the Merchants Arms pub(Image: Sarah Craig)
Police have arrested a man on suspicion of drink-driving and dangerous driving after a motorist smashed into a pub on a main road in Bristol.
A passenger in the car was taken to hospital but thankfully did not receive injuries that were life-threatening or life-changing, and she was later discharged from hospital.
The crash was the second time in less than three months that the Merchants Arms was struck by an out-of-control driver, and came just days before Bristol City Council are understood to be installing safety barriers to shield the pub and the other buildings on the corner of Merchants Road in Hotwells.
The landlady of the Merchants Arms, which had its frontage half destroyed in the last crash back in late March, said this time the lamppost on the corner of the building took the full force of the impact from the car.
“A neighbour called me to tell me what had happened, and I was walking back from a friend’s at the time and came to the scene,” explained Emily Rogers, the landlady of the Merchants Arms.
“The woman seemed badly hurt. Luckily the pub building itself didn’t suffer much damage because the car hit the pole in front of the building first,” she added.
“The police were here within minutes, and the ambulance too.”
A spokesperson for Avon & Somerset police said they were called in the middle of the night. “Shortly before 3am we received a report that a blue Ford Ka had collided with a building in Merchants Road in Hotwells,” he said.
“Officers arrived at the scene within minutes of the call and arrested a man in his 30s on suspicion of dangerous driving, driving whilst unfit through drink, and failing to provide a specimen for analysis.
“A passenger in the car was taken to hospital with injuries that were neither life-threatening or life-changing. She has since been discharged from hospital.
“The arrested man has since been released under investigation while the police investigation continues. Any witnesses or anyone with any dashcam footage which could help our investigation should call 101 using the reference number 5226169932,” he added.
(Image: PAUL GILLIS / Reach Plc)
Back in late March, four people were injured when a car ploughed in through the front of the pub, trashing the inside and smashing a large hole in the frontage.
It wasn’t the first time the pub had been hit by a car – the same thing happened in 2017.
The incident in March led to calls for action to be taken to, firstly protect the pub building from being hit again, and secondly to slow down drivers coming round the bend of Merchants Road, heading towards the Plimsoll Bridge ramp and the start of the Portway.
“The council are due to come on Tuesday this coming week to install proper crash barriers,” said Emily. “It was just unlucky this happened just a few days before.
(Image: Jon Craig)
“They have agreed to install big barriers that will be secured to the ground at the kerbside, which will protect people walking on the pavement, sitting outside and inside the pub, and the pub building itself,” she added.
“Long term, I’m told they are working on plans to change the road layout so it is safer and drivers have to slow down around this bend,” she added.