Pub roof is destroyed in arson attack

Aug 21 2006 By Tony Collins

VANDALS were today being blamed for a fire which wrecked a Birmingham pub.

The roof of the Wagon and Horses pub, in Coventry Road, Sheldon, was completely destroyed in the fire, which was discovered shortly before 9pm yesterday.

Around 40 firefighters tackled the fierce blaze, with seven appliances and a hydraulic platform being sent to the incident from all over the area, including Solihull.

The Wagon and Horses is currently boarded up while its future is determined.

A spokesman for Hay Mills fire station said they were alerted to the blaze at about 8.50pm.

"The pub has been boarded up for the last few months and has been extensively vandalised over that period of time.

"We believe that vandals got in through one of the panels by prising it from the building and then gone upstairs to the loft area where they started a fire."

Fire crews spent three hours bringing the fire under control.

"The roof has been completely gutted and there is also extensive damage to the upper floors."

The exact cause of the fire has not been established. n The garage of a house in Westover Road, Handsworth Wood, was extensively damaged in a fire at 12.30am today. The cause of the fire is being investigated.