Anyone following the story of the fire and almost immediate demolition of 'Britain's wonkiest pub'?

[SirChenjins]

It's looking a bit suspicious to say the least! Such a shame to see a lovely old building reduced to a pile of bricks.

I'd be interested in what companies they have links to so I can make sure I don't use them.

If you had read even just the first page of the thread then you wouldn't have asked this.

Yet you could be arsed to ask the question in the first place.

In brief:

Famous historic pub in process of becoming a listed building.

March this year - pub closed and landlord moves out.

July - brewery sells pub to people who own land next door, who had been in dispute with brewery for some time, for an 'alternative' use.

Last Saturday, pub mysteriously catches fire, entry road blocked by piles of earth so fire engines can't get there in time. Police now say it was arson.

2 days later, council tells new owners to make top storey of property safe but that it shouldn't be demolished. In a flash, new owners call contractors in who bulldoze entire pub flat anyway.

Is that concise enough for you?

Can you imagine if every thread on MN went that way?

‘What happened?’

’The thread tells you what happened’

’Nah, I’m on me break, cba to read it’

😂😂

And now there's rumours the bulldozers were booked before the fire.
Dicks.

This story makes me angry. I hope those responsible are punished. Locked up if possible and made to fund the rebuilding of the Crooked House.

The information is in the public domain. The Times article mentioned AT Contracting.
You can look up most companies on the Companies House database. It will give details about the company, including the names of directors (under the 'people' tab). If you click on the name of a director it then shows you all their other directorships (current and previous).

From what Ive read, I reckon they dont care if its obvious that they planned it all in advance.

I think it was at the end of June that the pub closed. They had a break-in on 25th June and had to close following this due to the damage. It then never reopened.

A break in as well? After this couple bought it?

I've visited the pub a few times, although not in recent years. Such a shame that it's gone.

I really hope that the owners are forced to rebuild it, though I'm not sure how realistic that is. They shouldn't just be allowed to continue with their plans to extend their landfill.

The break-in was shortly before the sale. The pub's Facebook page reported on 27th June that they had suffered a break-in on 25th and had to temporarily close for around two weeks for repairs to be carried out.

The break-in and cost of repairing the damage was presumably one of the factors which led to Marston's selling of the pub. It didn't reopen and the pub Facebook page announced a sale on 27th July, letting customers know that it was unlikely to open its doors again due to having been sold for 'alternative use.'

Some news reports initially reported tha the building was 'derelict' due to having been closed at the time of the arson attack, but it was actually in use as a pub as usual up until the break-in at the end of June.

I was wondering if there was a thread on this. Absolutely staggering. Arson is up there with the most serious offences. They could have killed someone and I hope they end up at his Majesty’s pleasure. They embody everything that’s wrong with the world. Bet they had no idea that the media would be so interested. It seems they’ve bulldozed another woodland to make way for some sort of developments in the past. It’s actually amazing what level of crookery you can get away with in this country. I guess if you go that step too far though is when it all tumbles down.

I hope there's a order put on the whole site to ban anything anything ever being built on there or the land being used for any purpose ,rendering it useless.

It does look as though the Police and Fire Brigade are doing a thorough job of investigating this. The media and public interest will help.
It looks as though the current owners have always pushed the Authorities to get their way on planning applications.
Perhaps they have misjudged the reaction, official and unofficial, on this occasion. The penalties can be severe.

A break in sounds dodgy as hell, for it to involve so much damage that the pub can’t reopen at a busy time of year for a fortnight. Not just local youths trying to take spirits and whatever’s in the till, but a likely attempt to intimidate.
And if you don’t know who did it you’re unlikely to find proof of who put them up to it.

The owners will have ensured they were far away when it was burnt down. Most likely at a very public event with plenty of witnesses. Whoever started the fire will been given a brown envelope with cash inside.

There will be no proof the owners had anything to do with it. Just another mysterious coincidence.

All of this shows how poorly protected our heritage is.

The fact this is apparently part of a trend of similar incidents.
The fact no due diligence seems to have been required for purchasers of a historic building. Or nobody cared.
The fact the new owners don’t even need to hide what they were doing.
The fact that between the fire and the ultimate total demolition the site was not protected while the investigation was on-going.
The fact we’re all talking about ‘possible’ prison sentences.

Close the loopholes that allowed this to happen or give in and accept that we’ll lose our historic buildings in favour of quick profit.

I doubt an insurance payout was the incentive - more likely a clear site on which they could develop as they decide.

Interesting though - if they do make a claim through insurance it will open up the hornet's nest even moreso, if they don't, it's a clear acceptance of guilt.

Agree.
There need to be really stiff penalties for this .

It's really disgusting and they should be held accountable for it. So obvious

Same here.

I'm shocked it didn't have listed status ages ago.

You have to withdraw cash from somewhere. Police manage to trace cash withdrawals in other criminal cases.

Failure to act in such a flagrant example of deliberate arson and insurance fiddling makes our law enforcement system look pathetic and weak.

You have to withdraw cash from somewhere
Not if you don’t keep all of your money in the bank, or run all of your business transactions through your accountant…