Police attend protest at Crooked House site
The pub burnt down on Saturday 5 August with up to 30 firefighters extinguishing the blaze after receiving reports of smoke and flames.
An investigation has been launched with Staffordshire Police to determine the cause of the fire and continue to carry out inspections at the site.
A statement from the police released yesterday (Monday 21 August), revealed there had been reports a group of protestors had turned up at the site.
The police also said their investigation is live and ongoing. A CCTV trawl, forensics and witness accounts continue to be worked through as they try to piece together the circumstances that led to the fire, which it said was being treated as arson.
Proper inquiry
A petition calling for a ‘proper inquiry’ into the burning down of the pub started on 6 August and had reached more than 95,000 signatures at the time of publishing.
It said: “The historic former public house the Glynne Arms, known as the ‘Crooked House’, a building of major historical significance burned on the night of the 5 August, not long after public calls for it to be saved from developers.
“Fire services were prevented from reaching the building by obstacles being placed in the access road and saving the historic building, then it was swiftly demolished.
“An open public inquiry must be held into the burning and destruction of this remarkable building.
“The loss of this building is a major blow to the historical heritage of the Black Country – a building which had national and international renown.”
Nationwide scandal
Earlier this month, consumer organisation the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) demanded pubs that have been converted or demolished illegally must be rebuilt “brick by brick” after finding more than 30 sites could have suffered such fates in the past six months.
The group labelled the practice a “nationwide scandal” in the wake of the demolition of the Crooked House.
