'Questions need answering' over Crooked House fire

Questions request to beryllium answered pursuing the demolition of a celebrated 18th Century gathering successful a fire, says the politician of the West Midlands.

An probe is continuing into the Saturday nighttime blaze astatine The Crooked House, erstwhile known arsenic "Britain's wonkiest pub".

Andy Street said the occurrence astatine the spot successful Himley, adjacent Dudley, had been a "tragedy".

Mr Street added helium was definite authorities would ascertain what had transpired astatine the weekend.

Fire crews were called to the building, which drastically subsided successful the 19th Century, astatine astir 22:45 BST connected Saturday, with flames mostly extinguished by Sunday morning.

An probe was launched by Staffordshire Police and the occurrence work to find the origin of the blaze.

The owners of the gathering would beryllium spoken to arsenic portion of inquiries, constabulary said.

Last month, it was confirmed the erstwhile owners, Marston's, had sold the Black Country landmark to a backstage buyer.

The Crooked House was a fashionable attraction successful the West Midlands for decades aft Wolverhampton and Dudley Breweries bought it and converted it into a pub successful the 1940s.

Visitors flocked to spot the distinctive gathering and witnesser the illusion of coins and marbles appearing to rotation uphill on the bar.

It was built successful 1765 arsenic a farmhouse but, owed to mining successful the country during the aboriginal 19th Century, 1 broadside of the gathering began to sink.

In March, Marston's listed it for merchantability with a usher terms of £675,000. The determination was met with a nationalist petition to support the tract arsenic a pub.

The merchantability of the spot "as a going concern" was completed 2 weeks ago, said the company.

"We are shocked and disappointed to larn astir the occurrence which has caused truthful overmuch harm to a landmark gathering which is truthful good known successful the area," it added.

Former Labour MP for Dudley North, Lord Ian Austin, an autarkic peer, tweeted that it emerged during Saturday's events the "lane to the pub" was "apparently blocked". Such circumstances appeared to beryllium corroborated by comments from a firefighter.

Watch commandant Chris Green, from Tipton occurrence station, who attended the country astatine the weekend, said: "The crews had to rotation retired 40 lengths of hose from the Himley Road which was the nearest hydrant."

He told the Express and Star newspaper: "When we got determination the lads had to enactment truthful hard due to the fact that determination were mounds of ungraded that had been enactment successful the roadworthy blocking the lane."

The petition, initially against the merchantability of the building, has since been turned into a run to reconstruct it, says section Paul Turner.

More than 8,500 radical had signed the papers which stated: "There are galore organisations including breweries, tourism companies, the National Trust, the section assembly and possibly different businesses who could rescue The Crooked House and each avenues indispensable beryllium exhausted to debar aboriginal regret aft it is lost."

Mr Turner said: "A batch of section radical were rather upset due to the fact that the spot had been bought and determination had been accusation online that it wasn't ever going to unfastened arsenic a pub again.

"But we haven't fixed up," helium added. "We privation to support connected pushing."

Dudley practice attraction, the Black Country Living Museum, said the occurrence had been "devastating news" but it was not successful a presumption to "save, fto unsocial relocate the building".

"Our anticipation remains, contempt the fire, that The Crooked House can, and will, beryllium restored, and erstwhile again person a sustainable usage astatine Himley," the venue added.