"Hundreds of used needles found as firefighters tackle blaze at Coventry pub"

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Fire crews were not only greeted by flames - but also hundreds of used needles at the Butts Retreat pub



Fire crews were not only greeted by flames - but also hundreds of used needles when they were called out to a blaze at a grim derelict pub in Coventry.

West Midlands Fire Service, police and the ambulance service responded to the 999 call yesterday afternoon (May 14) as it was feared people were inside The Hamptons, known as the Butts Retreat, which was on fire.

Fortunately no-one was found inside, but crews from Coventry and Foleshill stations were greeted by flames in the first floor.

They also had to negotiate needle-ridden floors both inside and outside of the pub in Spon End at 4pm.

Floorboards were also missing from inside the building, making it even more treacherous for the crews.

A spokesperson for Coventry Fire Station said: "Three fire crews attended, two from Coventry and one from Foleshill.

"The police and the ambulance also attended as the call came in as persons reported. No one was found inside the derelict building.

"The fire was in the first floor and crews were there from 4pm until 8pm. They found a lot of drugs paraphernalia and needles, inside and outside of the building.

"It is understood that it may have been used by vagrants."

Investigations are now underway into the cause of the blaze as police are treating it as 'suspicious'.

A West Midlands Police spokesperson said: "We are investigating as the fire may have been suspicious.

"We were called at 4.55pm yesterday (14 May). An investigation is underway.

"Anyone with information is asked to call us on 101 quoting log 3203 of 14 May."

The pub hit the headlines in 2010 when landlord Bob McGreevy called time after several years of struggling to make ends meet.

Then, in 2017, it re-opened as the Khamara Lounge bar and grill.

The pub is called the Butts Retreat because the butt was the name for the archery field used by the military for target practice. There used to be a butt near the pub.

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They've since dug up the power cables connecting the pub which suggests it may have been an electrical fault.

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Every fire crew in Coventry called to huge pub blaze as police cordon off road



Every fire crew in Coventry responded to 999 calls after a former pub went up in flames. Residents around the Butts Road area were told to close their windows last night, July 7.

The old The Hamptons venue was well alight and Coventry Fire Station engines were first on the scene at around 8.30pm. They were soon joined by colleagues from Binley, Foleshill and Canley.

Coventry Police cordoned off the stretch of road, as well as nearby roads, and officers urged people to close their windows. The fire crews fought the flames as well as trying to bring the levels of smoke down.

The crews, who were joined by West Midlands Ambulance Service, were at the scene for several hours.

West Midlands Fire Service confirmed there were a total of six fire engines and a 4×4 brigade response vehicles, crewed by firefighters from Coventry, Binley, Canley, Foleshill, Solihull and Bickenhill stations, that responded to the 999 calls at 8.40pm. A spokesperson said the first crew arrived at the scene within two minutes.

They said the fire was started deliberately but the culprits had fled the scene.

"This was a deliberately started fire on the first floor of a two-storey void pub," the fires spokesperson said. "The fire was extinguished by firefighters wearing breathing apparatus. Everyone was accounted for and there were no casualties.

"Butts Lane was closed by police colleagues while we worked at the scene. It’s believed to have re-opened later. Firefighters boarded up the property and left the scene at 11.16pm."

The former pub, which was once known as the Butts Retreat, has been closed since June 2017, It has been the target of vandals and the word 'smile' was plastered on the pub back in 2022.

It is not the first time there has been a fire at the building. In 2021, firefighters had to negotiate hundreds of used needles as they responded to a 999 call to a fire inside the former Spon End pub.

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Derelict Coventry pub could be bulldozed for new flats



An abandoned Coventry pub could be knocked down for new flats. Citizen plans to demolish the fire-hit The Hamptons pub as part of its huge Spon End redevelopment scheme.

The housing group plans to build 750 new homes on the 1960s estate next to Upper Spon Street, Butts Road and Meadow Street. Their plans were validated by the council last week and are due a decision by late June.

Documents with the project show the derelict Hamptons pub on the corner of Butts Road and Windsor Street is one of the buildings set to be bulldozed. It would be replaced by high-rise flats that could be be eight to ten storeys high.

The former watering hole originally opened in 1837 as the Summerland Tavern and was later rebuilt on the land, according to history websites. The venue was later known as the Fob Watch and Butts Retreat but appears to have closed for good in 2017.

More recently it has hit the headlines due to two blazes at the building in the last four years. Fire crews from across the city were called out to the incidents and nobody was injured.

But firefighters had to deal with missing floorboards and a huge amount of discarded needles while tackling flames at the pub in 2021. Fire chiefs speaking at the time said they were investigating the blaze as it may have been suspicious.

Bosses also said a fire in the building last July had been started deliberately. Visiting the pub last year, the Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) found it boarded up and covered with graffiti including a huge 'Smile' tag.

Many other buildings in the seven-hectare Spon End development site could also be knocked down. Citizen has asked for permission to demolish Spon Gate House, Grindlay House, Drinkwater House, George Poole House, Givens House, Gardner House, Fennel House, Winslow House and Corrie House.

They also plan to bulldoze some properties in a conservation area and replace them with 27 family houses. This includes homes on Sherbourne Street, Wellington Gardens, a parade of shops and flats on Upper Spon Street (Melbourne Gardens) and a building used by Mind on Windsor Street.

Full details of the scheme can be found on the council's planning portal via reference: PL/2025/0000548/FULM.

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The pub car park was raided by police at least twice in the last few days. On Saturday they were speaking to a group of young BMX bikers while standing guard. Another group of young kids were hanging around Windsor Street and Wellington Gardens. I don't think any of them lived locally?

On Monday the police were speaking to a much older lone biker while an incident van was parked nearby.

As for Citizen's future plans, there's an ever-increasing gap between what they propose and what they actually deliver. They've yet to demolish the neighbouring estate abandoned more than two years ago.