A tractor driver who caused chaos in Tenterden High Street when he shed bales of straw has been fined.

Two cars, including a £21,000 sports car, were written off and another vehicle was damaged when they were buried by straw between Caffe Nero and Cafe Rouge.

The bales were being transported on a trailer towed by tractor driver Jamie Shurrock.

Shurrock, 26, of Gatefield Cottages, Rolvenden, was fined £260 by Canterbury magistrates for careless driving.

He was also ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £25 and £85 costs.

The incident happened in the early evening of Wednesday, August 5, when three cars were damaged and a lamppost was flattened.

Ian Price had borrowed his wife’s three-year-old Mercedes convertible, which was written off.

He was having a drink with friends outside The Woolpack when he heard the car alarm.

Mr Price said at the time: “It was quite surreal. A Vauxhall Zafira had been shunted into the back of my car.”

In the Vauxhall Zafira was Rachel Taylor, who was waiting for her son and a friend.

Her mother, Linda Arnold, said: “She heard a whoosh and the straw was on top of her car.

“The impact threw her forwards and back again and she suffered whiplash and back pain.”

The car was also a write-off.

Witnesses said it was fortunate no one was walking along High Street at the time.