Pub offers shelter to residents evacuated in bomb scare
Homes in Burnley, Lancashire, were evacuated for a period of just over six hours, with more than 100 residents affected.
Police put a cordon in place around Burnley Cricket Club and closed nearby roads following the discovery of a suitcase, which was deemed to be suspicious.
The Royal Dyche pub issue a tweet saying any resident caught up in the incident was welcome to take shelter from heavy rain at its premises.
Anyone that has been affected by this and has had to evacuate their home are more than welcome to shelter here and get yourself a free hot drink (tea, coffee, hot chocolate, cappuccino etc)
— The Royal Dyche (@theroyaldyche) September 24, 2019
Horrible weather out there today! https://t.co/sRr9PWQ8xq
The pub, a stone’s throw away from the club, offered warm drinks – on the house – to those whose homes had been evacuated.
It tweeted: “Anyone that has been affected by this and has had to evacuate their home are more than welcome to shelter here and get yourself a free hot drink (tea, coffee, hot chocolate, cappuccino, etc).”
“Horrible weather out there today!”
Explosive ordinance disposal (EOD) teams examined the packaged and decided it was not a risk to the public at around 6pm.
Pub operator Justine Lorriman told The Morning Advertiser she also used word of mouth to let other people in the town know.
She said: “A lot of my grandparents’ friends live around that area as well. That generation aren’t going to have social media, so I passed on the message to my grandparents and said if any of your friends want to come in as well, we’ll sort them out with a hot drink and biscuits.”
Close community
Lorriman added: “It was something we thought was a nice thing to do. Everybody was panicking a little around the area and we were just outside where they cordoned it off.
“We had a man who was sat in here for about five hours because he couldn’t get his car to drive home.”
She added: “Burnley is a tight-knit community and I'm sure there’s other towns and pubs like ourselves that would do exactly the same if it were to happen anywhere else.”
Staff were praised for their generosity on social media with one person tweeting that the move was a “lovely gesture from lovely people”.
Another person tweeted: “Now that’s a real community boozer… ”
The pub made national headlines after it was renamed after local football manager Sean Dyche last year.
It was also a national finalist for this year’s Great British Pub Awards in the Best Pub Garden category.
