Crooked House bricks locked away in ceremony

By Amelie Maurice-Jones

- Last updated on GMT

Crooked House: Campaigners lock away remaining bricks
Crooked House: Campaigners lock away remaining bricks

Related tags Staffordshire Property Health and safety

Bricks were locked away in a ‘padlocking ceremony’ at the Crooked House pub in the Black Country over the weekend.

A fire​ tore through Britain’s ‘wonkiest’ pub on 5 August before it was demolished only 48 hours later.

The Save the Crooked House campaign group said it had communicated with contractors who agreed to secure the building’s bricks, The BBC ​reported.

Campaigners said they wanted the pub to be rebuilt and "rise from the ashes".

Around 200 people joined for the ceremony and also to see padlocks put on the containers, according to the group’s leader Paul Turner.

One of the keys to the padlocks would be kept by the contractors and the other by the campaign group itself, to ensure their safety, he said.

He said: "We want it built brick by brick."

Rebuilding wish

He added: "It was a lovely building, and we want it to be as close as possible to how it was."

This comes after some bricks were being sold on Facebook marketplace for £50 per piece.

The blaze, which destroyed the pub just a month after its sale, is being treated as arson, the police have said.

Marston's pub company previously owned the site.

Cause of fire

Firefighters​​ initially responded to try and extinguish the flames, supported by colleagues from West Midlands Fire Service, and police officers closed the road and managed the scene.

A specialist fire investigator then examined the scene to try and determine the cause of the fire.

Police believe the fire may have been started deliberately and are now leading the investigation.

They are closely supported by colleagues from the fire services, who brought a specialist accelerant detection dog to the site yesterday to investigate.

Related topics Health & safety

Related news

Show more