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Owner of former Stoke-on-Trent pottery fined for ignoring upkeep

BBC Falcon WorksBBC
The Falcon Works building changed owners in 2021

The owner of a listed former pottery works has been ordered to pay more than £1,400 after failing to comply with a council order to improve the site.

Falcon Works in Stoke-on-Trent was bought by London-based Diwan Property Development Ltd in 2021, telling the council it would honour the order.

The building, dating back to the 1870s, was targeted by suspected arsonists in July while it stood vacant.

Magistrates fined the firm £666 and ordered it to pay £800 costs.

The council made the site subject of an improvement notice in 2017, requiring the Grade II listed premises on Sturgess Street, featuring two bottle kilns, to be properly maintained.

But Rebecca Williams, prosecuting on behalf of the local authority, told North Staffordshire Justice Centre there had been a "significant detrimental impact" on the appearance and condition of a prominent heritage site for the city.

Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Fire being extinguished at the Falcon WorksStaffordshire Fire and Rescue
The fire in July was believed to have been started deliberately

Miss Williams explained: "There has been a change in ownership and in January 2021 we received notification to say the site had been purchased. Correspondence confirmed the new owner intended to fully comply with the notice."

She added: "Between April 2021 and August 2022, the council requested the notice to be complied with. The council visited the site and the requirements of the notice had not been met."

In July, firefighters spent more than four hours tackling a blaze believed to have been started deliberately.

At the time, the council said owners of historic buildings in Stoke-on-Trent that allowed them to fall into decay would be met with a "zero tolerance" approach.

At Monday's court hearing, a guilty plea to failing to comply with the notice was submitted.

Issuing the fine, magistrate Paul Veal said: "We feel there has been a wilful refusal to carry out work as no work has been carried out."

He added a full fine of £1,000 had been cut by a third due to the guilty plea.

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