Council has to pay motorist £4,800 after a stray golf ball from a course shattered the windscreen of his £200,000 McLaren 720 because it had not maintained the protective netting properly

A council has been forced to pay a motorist £4,800 after a stray golf ball from a municipal course smashed through the windscreen of his £200,000 McLaren 720.

The ball had been wacked by an amateur golfer at the Queens Park Golf Club in Bournemouth, with the ball landing on the sportscar as it drove down the outside lane of the A338.

When the driver, whose name was not revealed, saw his windscreen had partly shattered when he got home and used dash-cam footage to work out the golf ball had caused the damage.

Now Bournemouth, Christchuch and Poole Council (BCP) have been forced to pay the driver after it was found the netting put in place to protect cars from the course had 'significant' holes in it.

The driver from Wimbourne in Dorset, took the council to court for negligence over the holes in the netting, telling the hearing the cost to repair his windscreen was almost £4,000. The council was forced to pay a sum of £8,826.44 to the driver.

Video footage shows the red car travelling down the duel carriageway when all of a sudden a white golf ball flies over the cars and bounces of the windscreen.

The incident took place at 2pm on March 12, 2023 and the driver claimed the council had still not fixed the netting a year later, putting the general public 'at risk of death' from stray golf balls.

He said: 'When returning home, it became clear that a sizeable object had impacted the very bottom left corner of the car windscreen, where is it black film backed rather than clear, causing the glass to be shattered, cracked and indented.'

It is believed a golfer playing the 399-yard par 4 10th hole of the council-run course hooked their drive off the tee.

'As of January 2, 2024, the situation alongside the tenth tee of Queens Park Golf Course continues to be put at risk by the negligent omissions of the golf course operator, BCP Council,' the driver added.

'I believe that there remains a significant risk of damage, injury or even death to the general public innocently going about their daily business travelling on the A338 Wessex Way being met by golf balls travelling in the opposing direction with closing speeds in excess of 150mph.

'BCP Council have been and continue to be negligent in this respect.'

BCP have been contacted for comment.