Council considers legal action over demolition of Crooked House pub

A council is considering legal action after the "unauthorised" demolition of one of the UK's most unique pubs following a fire.

The Crooked House in Himley, Dudley, was gutted by a fire on Saturday evening (5 August), just two weeks after it was sold to a developer.

Local residents shared their dismay on social media after discovering the remaining structure of the much-loved venue, known as "Britain's wonkiest pub", was reduced to a pile of bricks on Tuesday morning.

South Staffordshire Council said the demolition was "unacceptable" and has referred the matter to its legal team.

Council officers had visited the site and agreed a programme of works with a representative of the landowner.

Roger Lees, leader of South Staffordshire Council, said: "At no point did the council agree the demolition of the whole structure nor was this deemed necessary.

"This council finds the manner in which the situation was managed following the fire completely unacceptable and contrary to instructions provided by our officers.

"As such, we are currently investigating potential breaches of both the Town and Country Planning Act and the Buildings Act."

The council has also notified the Health and Safety Executive and is liaising with Historic England, the police and fire service.

The Crooked House was built in the 18th century and became a tourist attraction after mining in the area caused the building to partially sink, allowing visitors to roll coins and marbles uphill along the bar.

Pub group Marston's put the property on the market in January and sold it to a new owner, who has not been identified, two weeks ago.

West Midlands mayor Andy Street tweeted that there were "a lot of questions surrounding the Crooked House fire that need answering".

Staffordshire Police said speculation about the cause of the fire was "not helpful at this time".

Chief inspector Chris Cotton said: "We understand the strength of feeling in the community is high at this moment and the sadness felt amongst those who have a strong emotional attachment to this place.

"We recognise the cultural heritage and significance of the building within communities in the area and we understand that people are concerned about what happened over the last few days.

"We understand that the community have a vested interest in this incident. We are doing everything we can to progress our lines of enquiry and review the evidence available to progress the investigation."