Crooked House owner linked to landfill that also went up in flames | Pubs

The owner of the Crooked House pub, which burned down and was demolished in controversial circumstances, is linked to a landfill site that went up in flames without explanation.

The landfill in Finmere, Oxfordshire was the site of a huge blaze in August 2018 that resulted in 400 tonnes of waste being set alight.

It is owned by AT Contracting and Plant Hire Ltd, run by Adam Taylor, whose wife, Carly Taylor, is the sole director of ATE Farms Ltd, which bought the Crooked House pub in July. Adam Taylor is a former director of ATE Farms.

Oxfordshire county council said it was not possible to identify the cause of the fire at the landfill.

Firefighters pumped water from a nearby lake to extinguish the flames and fire crews from neighbouring areas attended to tackle the blaze.

The Taylors are facing growing questions over what happened to the Crooked House in Himley, days after it was bought from the brewery Marston’s.

The pub burned down on 5 August and Staffordshire fire service said fire engines were not able to get close to the burning building due to large mounds of earth blocking the country lane leading to it.

Staffordshire police have since said they are treating the fire as arson, although a fire investigation was unable to identify the cause of the blaze.

The building was completely demolished two days later. South Staffordshire council said it had spoken to the owners and agreed to some demolition to make the structure safe, but “at no point did the council agree the demolition of the whole structure, nor was this deemed necessary”.

Local people have called for the pub to be rebuilt and the West Midlands mayor, Andy Street, said he was “laser-focused” on ensuring that the historic building, dating back to 1765, was “rebuilt brick by brick”.

At a public meeting at nearby Himley Hall on Wednesday, the Conservative MP for Dudley North, Marco Longhi, said he would “love to see a Crooked House law” put in place to protect other pubs from meeting the same fate.

Longhi said: “I don’t believe our current legislative framework is strong enough.

“You have my cast-iron guarantee that when parliament is back in session, I will be knocking on [the housing secretary] Michael Gove’s door. I would love to see, in future, a Crooked House law.

“Our historic pubs and buildings are not protected adequately.”

As well as running AT Contracting and Plant Hire Ltd, Adam Taylor is a shareholder in and former director of Himley Environmental Ltd, which runs the landfill site next to the Crooked House.

The landfill in Finmere is being monitored by the Environment Agency after complaints from residents about strong odours emanating from the site.

The agency said last month: “At present, we do not believe the operator is taking all reasonable measures [to prevent malodours] and we are taking the necessary actions to address this.”

AT Contracting and Plant Hire Ltd did not respond to a request for comment.