The owners of the Crooked House pub near Dudley have been ordered to rebuild it after the historic building was destroyed in a suspected arson attack.
Once known as “Britain’s wonkiest” inn, the 258-year-old pub in Himley was reduced to rubble following a fire on 5 August 2023.
In a post on X, West Midlands Mayor, Andy Street, praised South Staffordshire Council, adding: "An enforcement notice has been issued against the owners for its unlawful demolition.
“They have been ordered to rebuild the pub back to what it was before the fire - just as we’ve been lobbying for.”
What do you bet the owning company will suddenly go bankrupt (because all it’s assets have strangely been sold for £1 to a new company with the same directors)
Even if they don’t do that I think they’ll go bankrupt, recreating the pub is probably far more expensive than they can afford
I think they are a reasonably large and apparently infamous (even before this) developer. They should have the assets to do this. Whether they actually use them or hide them is up for question.
They’re clearly morally bankrupt. They’ll do anything to not comply with the order if there’s no money in it for them.
It depends if the directors.can be found legally liable. I don’t think they can be financially liable unless it can be proved they have done something illegal (depending on their company setup)
They burned their pub down, that’s definitely illegal. They then bulldozed it before the fire investigators could come in, extra illegal.
ALL THE ILLEGALS!!
Their entire history should be checked with several fine-toothed combs.