Driver in a spot of bollard bother

A MOTORIST faces a costly repair bill after his car was impaled on one of the Royal Mile's rising bollards.

The accident, at lunchtime on Saturday, left the black Volkswagen Golf badly damaged. Tourists looked on as efforts were made to prize the stricken vehicle from its resting place.

The bollards block traffic from the High Street between its junction with Cockburn Street and the City Chambers.

They operate 24 hours a day, but lower on approach to allow access from 6.30am to 10.30am.

Cars had been banned from the central stretch of the High Street for more than two years, before the bollards were introduced in January last year but the ban was regularly flouted by motorists.