An exhaust centre shop owner who ploughed his makeshift armoured bulldozer into several buildings over a dispute with city officials was found dead in the machine after a SWAT team gained access with explosives, authorities said.

An exhaust centre shop owner who deliberately damaged buildings as he tore through town in an armoured bulldozer has been surrounded by officers determined to extricate him from the vehicle.

A businessman involved in a planning row barricaded himself inside a metal-fortified bulldozer and went on a rampage through a Colorado mountain town, firing gunshots and knocking down buildings.