Fine them as much as possible, then deny planning permission for anything except rebuilding the pub. Someone has to stand up to this corruption

The council and police should look into the new owners. They quite obviously carried out the arson and demolision so they could rebuild. Absolutely disgusting. Send them to prison and force them to pay for the pub being rebuilt in the black country museum. Surely it was a listed building.

Bought by a private firm 1 month ago then caught fire. How convenient.

The road was blocked by dirt piles causing the fire men to have to run hoses to the building. The fire investigators had said not to demolish until they where happy they had investigated fully and within hours it was demolished. This isn't the first time pubs in the midlands have burnt to the group d and been demolished within hours. It can take weeks to book large machinery but these people seem to have bulldozers just waiting for these "accidents' to happen. The council and law enforcement should make an example out of people who use potentially life threatening disasters to help move along development schemes.

Burnt it down so they can Build Houses. Happens everywhere.

100% the private owners set it on fire and flattened it to use the land to develop on. They knew any plans wouldn’t be approved if the pub remained, and the backlash from the community would’ve blocked everything. Perfect example of it being easier to ask for forgiveness than permission.

My opinion is that the new owners had plans to demolish and develop the land. But when plans were announced to list the building as historically relevant, they acted before it could be listed. First the road was blocked with random piles of dirt, all the buildings were violently set alight then flattened two days later. To quote Ian Flemming, Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. Three times is enemy action.

10 yrs + Prison sentences need to be handed out! Arson, putting people's life's at risk, demolishing of a graded build (part of our culture) & should be rebuilt brick by brick at the owners expense

The same company bought an old listed pub in a place called Mosborough in Sheffield, that strangely got burnt down a few weeks after they bought it 🤔

The company who purchased the pub had previously purchased a pub in Warwickshire which they wanted to turn into residential accommodation they started to gut it without permission until the council stopped them, this time it seems they learnt just to burn it down straight away. They should be made to rebuild it if that’s not possible then a jail sentence and no planning permission granted

Obviously arson. Take a look at the developers. Whoever ordered the demolition are guilty of defying council instructions and fines, heavy fines, should be issued.

Them: "We do this all the time all pver the country, no one will notice" Everyone: *notices*

What's the odds they'll get off with it scott free. Whoever is responsible for this should be publicly flogged!

The arson is so blatant it's clear the developers don't care and have likely done this before. Hopefully this one is too high profile to get away with and they're forced to rebuild it brick by brick.

Might be the stupidest insurance job ever. Didnt even wait a month before commiting Arson. Hope the council forces a rebuild.

It "caught fire" not long after being bought by a new company, the roads to the building were blocked with mounds of dirt and then they demolished it after being told only the top floors needed to be taken down. An insurance job if ever I saw one. Same thing happened to the towers at Cambridge train station, except one had to be refurbished at a great cost 😂

People are fed up with this happening to historical buildings in the West Midlands that developers know that they won't get planning permission for. Corruption runs deep.

No one will go to jail, a slap on the wrist at the most. Lawless UK!

Really not difficult. Directors of company in jail for 12 months. Will stop this known loophole.

Yeah, it was so obvious they had a bulldozer ready to go straight away. The developers and everyone involved must be arrested and made to pay.

"Being treated as arson by the police" - The phrase "no s**t, Sherlock!" springs to mind.

Its was burned by someone paid by the developer,no one will ever be charged,and it will built on,pint of corruption anyone?

The people that bought the pub hired a digger 5 days before it was torn down by a digger! Look deeper people, find all the story instead of one bit!!

Can't keep letting people/companies get away with it. Need much stricter laws.

100% an insurance job

Did the same for Tommy Ducks pub in Manchester City centre, next day it was demolished despite it being a listed building

My heart goes out to the locals who loved this place, former landlords and owners. This is exactly what happens where I live to historic buildings when they are in the way of new development. I hope, this time, with national media attention, you get a conviction and it brings this issue into question when it happens in other places in the future!

This makes me so angry, our history is being stripped away from us and KNOWBODY with a platform is doing anything about it.

Small fine and slap on the wrist The law needs to be changed

I blamed marston too, should of done a better background check on new owners who are cowboys

People in this area should object to any new development been built on the land make sure they lobby the council . Be vocal dont let them get away with it .

It’s emerged the people who did this had done something similar elsewhere. I think they should be made to rebuild it brick by brick. The locals cannot let this go, it’s happening everywhere

The pub was gutted by the fire but still standing. I saw a councillor saying that they had given permission to knock some first floor down after the fire. Why so keen when there is a potential arson to investigate? Why was the place not cordoned off and preserved as a potential crime scene. This stinks and everyone knows it. Very difficult now to prove a crime if they keep their mouths shut but can any civil case be brought against them which only needs a balance of probabilities to bring in a verdict. Not sure who the complainant would be - maybe the whole community.

Back handers,no respect for are historic buildings.

Send the new owners the bill from the fire brigade, then arrest them for arson. Finally make them rebuild it as a pub.

In cases like this, sometimes it’s not always the company that is corrupt, but council members that take backhanders

Arson committed by the new owner , the land was worth 5 times more for building alone without the pub

The local authority should have the power to now confiscate the land

Most definitely arson! Probably wanted to build something else But if I was the council I would make sure they build it back to exactly the way it was! If not then courts and pay over the value of what it was worth! Should definitely be prison time! Funny how it had new owners and all of sudden was on fire and then demolished! Never seen a burnt out building demolished so quickly! A few years back the row of house next to my old house burnt down about 8 or 9 of them totally destroyed we was evacuated to! But are row lucky survived as it was about 10 meters away and path in between both the houses. But I was burnt out shell for over a year (was an eye sore) with metal high fences all the way around it and then after 3 years it was all demolished and rebuilt by the council. So find it very odd it was demolished! Someone was definitely trying to destroy evidence! 💯

Less than two weeks before the fire, the Warwickshire-based property company ATE Farms had bought the pub. Its director, Carly Taylor, is married to Adam Taylor, the boss of Himley Environmental, which operates a clay quarry next door.

🎀The amount of pubs in the West Midlands having “accidental fires” is incredible. Always when someone else wants the labs and building for something else.🎀

Locals should get council to see if any Tree Preservation Orders could be placed on site, especially close to the site of building. Land owners are responsible for destruction of trees with TPOs, regardless of whom got rid of it.... Will restrict development too.

Council should stop any future development on that site, teach the owners a lesson

Nothing new, where i live we had The Woodside Hotel, had been a pub on the site for years, it was closed, sold and burnt down, sound familiar

What a beautiful pub with such great history, this crime should not go uncharged, a true shame indeed.

I'm not even British and I'm devastated. Who would do such a thing?

not the first time this has happened and wont be last , just here in the south we lost another pub today on the littlehampton sea front , a brighton hotel a few weeks ago, an ancient coaching Inn in midhurst , im sure the list goes on !! money talks sadly

AND CREATING ROADBLOCK TO EMERGENCY VEHICLES.. ALSO ILLEGAL 🥶🥶🥶🥶🥶

I'm not from England but any building with that sort of history.. damn just to knock it down like that, I hope something is done to the owners and it gets rebuilt

This makes me so so sad. Part of history, gone.

I had arranged for my team's Christmas meal at a lovely country public house A couple of days before the meal the pub was demolished in an explosion. The chef, who recently discovered that he had a family after having been brought up in care, was sadly killed. Although the police had their suspicions as to who was behind it nobody was charged as there was not enough evidence. Sadly someone got away with murder.

The owner got it burnt out.

The council should take a compulsory purchase order for £1.00 and the new owners fined for arson and imprisoned. Sick to death of rich people think they can do what they like.

It’s a properly sad story with all the history behind the pub gone but what I would say is the immediate demolition is ridiculously suspicious, almost like it’s been demolished to hide evidence in a hurry

The way things are going I have a feeling we are going to lose a lot of buildings of historical and cultural interest, as our demogaph has been irrevocably changed. Lets hope it can be fully restored.

This happened so often for a time in Vancouver, BC- building bought, promptly burned down, architect drawings for a "luxury apartments" already commissioned- that nobody batted an eye. It was simply understood by residents what was going on. I would not be surprised to find out the new owners of the Crooked House already had plans drawn up for a new building- luxury flats- and even an application made for the insurance to be paid out.

Christ! They weren't even subtle about it were they? Property developers are a soulless breed.

So there just so happened to be a fire around the time people petitoned for it to be left as a pub, and after the fire what survived just so happened to be taken down (without permission) as well??? These shady owners NEED looking into.

Should be made to rebuild it brick by brick, but I am not too sure on whether this legally possible to enforce as at this point the building wasn’t a “Listed Building “.

Someone better do something about this !! Listed buildings are protected , where are the police ? This is a crime and should be treated as such

They should take what's left and recreate the pub elsewhere using what can be salvaged. I feel for the locals. Part of history destroyed. So sad.

A fire followed by "Oh no! Now we are going to HAVE to demolish it, ya know... To make the area safe of course" Seems like a suspiciously perfect way to remove a listed building and free up the land. Absolutely terrible, if foul play is at hand here, I hope the full hammer of the law comes down on those responsible. Is it true that the road was blocked preventing the fire service from attending the scene of the blaze?

This is an open goal for the Police.I expect charges, bankruptcy and long prison sentences very soon.

A 5 year old would have rightly assumed this was deliberate arson. Very unlikely anyone will be made amenable for the crime though. Probably no evidence to connect it to the new owner who would be the prime suspect.

The local community that most probably didn’t use the pub are now kicking of their pub is gone!

All contracts signed with listed buildings should state that no planning permission is to be given on its site. This would deter would-be developers from purchasing the properties in the first place.

There was a fire at a well known nightclub in the south of England some years ago There was a question about what happened The nightclub was rebuilt and is still going strong today

A local listed pub building near me was flattened illegally by developers, word was they wanted to build houses where as the council were going to force the site to be used as a community building. There are now houses built there to no ones surprise.

If it was an old A listed building they cannot demolish. So only way to do it is a fire. Then the owned can build on that area what he wants. That’s if it was an A listed building

Start with the council and all the back handers. Why would they allow part of the pub to be demolished because of safety reasons. The pub has always been safe. I think whoever did this should be locked up. But it won't happen. It is really sickening to see what has happened to this building that has stood for 260 years and is known all over the world.

It’s obvious that it was sold a couple of months ago, it goes on fire, the access road was blocked to the fire service, it gets demolished.

1:35 I've watched couple of interviews with Stuart Hall. I don't know anything about this community and these people, but somehow he doesn't come across as a honest person to me. There's something weird, as if he's hiding something or knows something. Of course, local people would know much better and I might be totally paranoiac.

this happened to at least two listed pubs in st helens

It's highly likely that A Crooked Fella is going to get some Straight Jail Time.

Planning permission for all works need to be suspended and the pub needs to be rebuilt exactly the same as it was. We can not afford to allow this sort of thing to take place in a civilised society.

The new owner of the pub (now just the land on which it stood!!) is a lady called Carly Taylor, who has a controlling interest in a Company called ATE Farms Limited. Her husband (Adam) is a Director and also has plant-hire, quarry and landfill businesses in the name of "Himley Environmental", which is situated next to the site of the now flattened "Crooked House". There is certainly circumstantial evidence to cause suspicion, but there is an answer to machinery being on site so quickly - it was parked next door! I don't think it was a sinister plot!! However, it does appear that, as investigations go on and the fog of confusion clears, we may find that Mr & Mrs.Taylor have not quite followed process, procedure and Council instructions. Let's see what happens. Some reports/locals allege that similar tactics have been used on other sites, but there is not a lot of proof, only hearsay from local residents of other villages around there. Certainly interesting.

I’m not even from there and never saw it before but I’m sad ☹️

Council should put a hold on planning permission, and their "investigation " needs to find out who owned the digger that illegally pulled it all down!

Old buildings often spontaneously combust, we have an unlucky developer in my home city who buy old buildings and either doesn't nothing to them for decades until they fall down or in one case bought an old derelict school to develop the site for housing on the proviso that the old school was renovated into flats 1s, unfortunately before the developer could start the school it spontaneously combust, it must be some sort of paranormal occurrence as it`s not the 1st site of theirs it`s happened to 😉

It’s soo over the top it sounds like a Collumbo episode

Planning permission should be banned. And a compulsory purchase of £1 should be imposed on the owners.

The firm that rented out the equipment said the owners of the pub rented the stuff out weeks before the fire, definitely caused by the new owners

It's happening with pubs all over the country. ❤ sorry for the loss of the building. Private investors we will not let you ruin our community's. We know. We are not stupid. 😮😢

I have been following this story about the destruction of the Crooked House Pub, l think you don't have to be Sherlock Holmes to see that fire was deliberate swiftly, followed by demolition, it was a premeditated crime. By the way, the couple who owned the pub hired a live band a couple of days before the fire, and the name of the band was ... Gasoline and Maches 🔥😐

Bit of a coincidence... 😂 happens all the time though. As long as the council get a back hand as usual, they'll be fine

This is a deliberate act of vandalism.

That is a land grab, and a dozen laws broken to get there

Well people should have gone to the pub more then would need to close it down People always complain when local businesses have to close but the only clothes because people don't go there They can still build another crooked pub

Are they gonna name the people they sold the place to or nah? Im sure people would love to know

I have just seen the news and saw Andy Street, the mayor, stating that the pub should be rebuilt I wonder if the owners will say that they cannot afford to rebuild it and file for bankruptcy.

Well i hope that when the new owners apply for planning permission to build houses there that its rejected. but we all know it wont be

Something most news reports are not mentioning: The pub was broken into it, whilst it was a viable working business, and vandalised it. That is why it had to close, and why Marsdens sold it. I have read that they are in financial difficulty and didn't want to pay for the repairs. You can find this story online. Here is a cut and paste from the local paper: Express and Star Published: Jul 9, 2023 By Deborah Hardiman "Landmark Crooked House public house forced to close after burglar wrecks bar, kitchen and bathrooms. The landmark Crooked House public house has shut its doors after a burglary in which tens of thousands of pounds worth of damage was caused." I wonder who was responsible for that?

Absolutely terrible. Whoever owns the land needs outing and should give a clear explanation and a public apology as a minimum.

MAKE THEM REBUILD IT NOW , STOP THE PAY OUTS ON THE INSURANCE THEY WERE HIDING THE EVIDENCE

This happens a lot in the Brum area, one sure and lucrative way of obtaining land.

The same thing happened to a pub near me..... Just happened to burst into flames and now they can build anything that they want to 🙄

What an absolute shame! People have no respect these days. That building was old as the hills, had a history, story and uniqueness. What does anyone gain from arson? What a waste of a rare, original, quirky building that brought revenue for the town it stood in from visitors from all over the world. What an utter disgrace

Crooked Owners needing investigation. No Insurance money and they should re build it to how it was and then put the grandfather clock which was allegedly taken out before the fire was started

If all these people crying about the building being demolished had actually spent some money in there, the brewery wouldn’t have had to sell it…

Apparently the bulldozer had been booked about 10 days before the fire