Arsonists strike twice in less than an hour at derelict pub

ARSONISTS struck twice in less than an hour at a derelict Nuneaton town centre pub. Green watch from Nuneaton Fire Station were first called out to the Kingsholme pub at 2pm on Saturday afternoon (November 12).

Trespassers had broken in and started a fire in one of the bay windows, sending plumes of smoke into the air around Upper Abbey Street. Two engines from the nearby station raced to the scene and put out the fire.

Less than an hour later, the fire crews were called out to the same place again. This time, a fire had been started upstairs in the buillding.

A spokesman for Nuneaton Fire Station said that both incidents are being treated as arson. “They broke into the building and the first seat of fire was in a bay window,” the spokesman said.

“Less than an hour later we were called again, this time to a fire upstairs in the building.”

There have now been three arson attacks at the pub in five months after crews were called out back in June when thick black smoke was seen billowing from the building.

At the time the former pub building, which was once part of the famed ‘Abbey Run’, was due to be boarded up.

But now it appears trespassers have got inside again - and this follows a long-running trend, as the building has been targeted ever since it closed in June 2000.

In May last year, police found a huge cannabis factory in production inside the former pub and there have been reports of squatters inside the building too in the past. It has stood empty for more than two decades and attempts to bring it back into use have failed.