England's victory over Germany brought the house down in one Colchester pub - literally.

Simon Peacey, landlord of Molly Malones, ordered a large screen projector specifically in time for sports fans to watch Saturday's crucial match.

Contractors fitted the retractable screen to the pub's ceiling on Thursday.

But on Friday the weight of the screen caused the ceiling to sag and Mr Peacey cordoned off the front of the pub, on St Botolph's roundabout, and asked the contractors to get it fixed.

By 7.20pm the bar was beginning to fill with about 60 people drinking and playing pool when barmaid Clare Grimwade noticed the whole ceiling begin to peel away.

"It was really surreal. It all happened in slow motion. I just looked up and could see that half of the ceiling start to shift.

"I thought I was imagining things," she said.

"Then it just all came crashing down. There was dust everywhere, it was like a bomb exploding."

Mr Peacey said the whole thing - like the famous Carry On Up The Khyber dining scene - was caught on the pub's security cameras.

"You could see Clare running along the bar with a huge cloud of white dust behind her."

The pub was covered in a two-inch thick layer of chalky dust which gathered on top of everyone's pints.

"The pub was devastated but thankfully no-one was hurt. I gave everyone a free drink and people asked if I could clear the pool table," Mr Peacey said.

But he had to shut the pub for the rest of Friday and Saturday.

Mr Peacey, who has worked in pubs around the country for 17 years, said: "I have had people coming into my pub with shotguns and once had 400 people in for a wedding when the electrics went off.

"But I've never had a ceiling fall down."

Although now still open for business Molly Malones will shortly have to close for a two-week refurbishment.

Devastated - surprised drinkers were caught unawares when the ceiling of their pub collapsed on Friday night, right and left.

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