'Questions need answering' over Crooked House fire

Questions need to be answered following the destruction of a celebrated 18th Century building in a fire, says the mayor of the West Midlands.

An investigation is continuing into the Saturday night blaze at The Crooked House, once known as "Britain's wonkiest pub".

Andy Street said the fire at the property in Himley, near Dudley, had been a "tragedy".

He said he hoped the landmark could be restored and preserved.

Mr Street added he was sure authorities would find out what had happened at the weekend.

A team of 30 firefighters were called to the building, which drastically subsided in the 19th Century, at about 22:00 BST on Saturday, with flames mostly extinguished by Sunday morning.

An investigation was started by Staffordshire Police and the fire service to determine the cause of the blaze.

The owners of the building would be spoken to as part of inquiries, police said.

Last month, it was confirmed the previous owner Marston's had sold the Black Country landmark to a private buyer.

The Crooked House was a popular attraction in the West Midlands for decades after Wolverhampton and Dudley Breweries bought it and converted it into a pub in the 1940s.

Visitors flocked to see the distinctive building and witness the illusion of coins and marbles appearing to roll uphill along the bar.

It was built in 1765 as a farmhouse but, due to mining in the area during the early 19th Century, one side of the building began to sink.

In March, Marston's listed it for sale with a guide price of £675,000. The move was met with a public petition to keep the site as a pub.

The sale of the property "as a going concern" was completed two weeks ago, said the company.

"We are shocked and disappointed to learn about the fire which has caused so much damage to a landmark building which is so well known in the area," it added.

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

Station commander Liam Hilton of Staffordshire Fire Service said "[there were] mounds of mud and soil placed in the centre of the road and covering the whole of [it]", which meant, he added, that appliances could not gain direct access to the incident.

He said: "So it was a good 800 metres to approximately 1,000 metres' distance that we had to get our water via a high volume pump, that worked very well once it was in place, so there was quite a lot of work involved."

The petition, initially against the sale of the building, has since been turned into a campaign to restore it, says local Paul Turner.

More than 8,500 people have signed the document which states: "There are many organisations including breweries, tourism companies, the National Trust, the local council and maybe other businesses who could rescue The Crooked House and all avenues must be exhausted to avoid later regret after it is lost."

Mr Turner said: "A lot of local people were quite upset because the place had been bought and there had been information online that it wasn't ever going to open as a pub again.

"But we haven't given up," he added. "We want to keep on pushing."

Dudley heritage attraction the Black Country Living Museum said the fire had been "devastating news" but it was not in a position to "save, let alone relocate the building".

"Our hope remains, despite the fire, that The Crooked House can, and will, be restored, and once again have a sustainable use at Himley," the venue added.

A site inspection was being carried out on Monday, the fire service confirmed.

"We know the significance that the building has within the local community and we are working alongside our colleagues in the police to investigate what happened," a spokesperson said.

The building had been assessed as unsafe and a cordon would remain in place, they added.

Det Insp Richard Dancey, of Staffordshire Police, said: "This incident has caused a great deal of speculation locally and we understand the significance of the building within the local community."

The force encouraged anyone with information to come forward.

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