The Leopard Hotel: Road still closed following fire

A road outside a historic pub damaged by fire remains closed six weeks later.

The fire tore through The Leopard Hotel in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, on 22 January, with local residents evacuated.

Staffordshire Police said the cause of the fire is still being investigated.

Joan Walley, chair of the Burslem Regeneration Committee, said the road remaining closed "sends out a message Burslem isn't really open to business".

The former Labour MP for Stoke-on-Trent North said she also wanted more information about the future of the building on Market Place.

"We just do not know what is going on," she said.

"Everybody who cares about Burslem, who cares about Stoke-on-Trent, wants to see everybody working together on it, and I think really that is what we want to see happen. That is what we need to make happen."

Stoke-on-Trent Council Leader, Councillor Abi Brown, had said the authority was "absolutely very keen to save the frontage" of the Leopard.

But she said safety was the "absolute priority".

"It is abundantly clear to anyone who sees the building that it requires a lot of work and attention," she said.

"We have requested the owner erect a structural scaffold to protect the frontage of the building. When this work is completed it will be safe to open the road again, with a covered walkway in place on the pavement."

She said it is also awaiting a formal response from the building's owner on their plans for the future.

The building's owner Daneets Developments were contacted for comment.

Follow BBC West Midlands on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to: [email protected]