Pub owner Robert Tyrrell, who rammed a digger into his own historic hostelery, has escaped a second prosecution.

A district judge at Oxford Magistrates' Court on June 6 decided to throw out a case brought against the wealthy farmer from Steventon, near Abingdon, by the Vale of White Horse District Council.

Tyrrell, the owner of the North Star Inn, in Steventon, went on the rampage when he was refused a drink in the early hours of New Year's Day by a barman.

He returned later at the wheel of a digger and rammed and partly demolished the Grade II listed building.

Tyrrell, 46, of The Green, Steventon, later pleaded guilty to damaging property and being reckless as to whether life would be endangered. He was sentenced at Oxford Crown Court two months ago to 200 hours' community service.

He was also ordered to pay £2,800 to people who were in the pub at the time and £450 prosecution costs.

Even though he is now paying up to £70,000 to repair the damage, the council claimed his actions contravened two sections of the Planning, Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas Act.

The council also accused him of causing damage, as well as carrying out unauthorised work to change the appearance of the North Star.

But after receiving legal statements at a hearing on June 6 at Oxford Magistrates Court, district judge Brian Loosley refused to proceed with the Vale's case.

He said that both the Crown Court damage charge and the present one were 'substantially the same', and therefore to proceed with the Vale case would be an abuse of the law and a waste of time.

The council's senior legal officer, David Quayle, said: "The council as local planning authority takes the conservation and preservation of listed buildings very seriously."