WORKERS at a central Victorian venue say it is lucky that no one was injured during a bizarre incident on Friday night.
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It was about 10pm when a rogue tyre came loose from a four-wheel-drive on High Street, Bendigo, and bounced through the open front doors of Goldfields Cycle Sports and Cafe Velo at the City Family Hotel.
The tyre soared through the air, knocking a pot plant, before it bounced up the bar and smashed a biscuit jar.
Staff members Jimmy Black and Jess Eagle were working the night the incident happened.
Ms Eagle said there were only a couple of people left in the building when the tyre came through the open doors.
"It was only an hour earlier when there were a lot of patrons in the venue," she said. "We had over 20 patrons.
"We were very lucky we were all in the right place at the right time and that no one got hurt."
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There was minimal damage to the venue's front door handle, flooring, and bar taps.
"Our manager is on holidays in Queensland at the moment so making that call was... yeah she didn't believe me," Ms Eagle laughed.
Mr Black said the driver of the 4WD was in shock.
"He was just as surprised as anyone," he said. "The first thing he asked was, is everyone OK inside?
"The way he described it to me was he saw the tyre come off and he thought it would hit the building and stop.
"When he saw it go through the doors, the first thing he thought was, oh there's people in there.
"He was just relieved to know everyone was OK."
Mr Black said there was a man who had gone to the bathroom just seconds before the tyre crashed through the venue.
"The damage could have been a lot worse," he said. "It turned out as good as it could have.
"You wouldn't believe it unless you saw it."