Crooked House pub will be REBUILT as owners ordered to return it to original state before ‘unlawful demolition’
THE Crooked House pub will be rebuilt after the owners were ordered to return it to its original state after an "unlawful demolition".
The boozer in Himley, Staffordshire, burned down on August 5 just two weeks after it was sold to new owners.
On the day of the blaze, Staffordshire and West Midlands fire services raced to the scene on Himley Road to battle the flames but could not contain the inferno.
The shell of the charred pub was reduced to rubble by diggers just 36 hours after the blaze.
Now, the council have served an Enforcement Notice on the owners of the popular public house.
"An enforcement notice has been issued against the owners for its unlawful demolition," Andy Street, the mayor of the West Midlands, said.
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"They have been ordered to rebuild the pub back to what it was before the fire - just as we've been lobbying for."
The council has engaged with the owners since the demolition but has reached a point where formal action is considered necessary.
The Mayor welcomed the order for the 18th century pub to be restored.
Posting on X, formerly Twitter, he said: "Crooked House ordered to be rebuilt.
"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.
"Fantastic work from South Staffordshire Council."
The popular boozer, where coins and marbles would appear to roll uphill along the bar, was put forward for listed status protection days before it was destroyed.
It would have meant that the owners, who bought the pub in October 2023, would have needed council permission to knock it down.
The enforcement notice served against the owners now requires the building to be rebuilt by February 2027, the council said.
If work is not completed within the time limit, the local authority can prosecute for failure to comply with the notice, it added.
The owners have just 30 days to appeal and the notice must be complied with within three years.
Suspicion grew as the Crooked House pub in Himley, Staffs, was burnt down just days after it was sold.
Three men, aged 33, 51, and 66, have since been arrested and bailed over the incident.
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Lawyers began looking into potential breaches of the 1990 Town and Country Planning Act after the demolition.
And it has been claimed the digger that flattened the charred ruins was hired before the blaze.
