Nobody hurt as severe fire breaks out at Brierley Hill pub

The New Wellington Pub in Brettell Lane, Brierley Hill, Dudley, was forced to close after severe blaze break out in its kitchen at around 5pm on Monday.

Nobody is believed to have been injured in the incident, with the pub posting on Facebook that "everyone was OK".

Initially, the pub said it would be closed for a few days while the damage was assessed.

But posting on its Facebook page later on, the pub said "that the bar will be open for the England vs Czech Republic match at 8pm" on Tuesday.

Tammy Stokes, manager at the pub, said: "We feel fortunate enough to reopen.

"We have worked hard today to get it back up and running.

"It could have been a lot worse than it was.

"The community has been wonderful, just from the comments and the amount of messages we have had, like 'if there is anything that I could do or help, just give us a call'. Everybody has been really understanding to be honest."

Brettell Lane was shut as crews worked to extinguish the fire, using four breath apparatus and two hose reels.

Watch commander Andy Lewis, from Brierley Hill Fire Station, said: "The whole of the kitchen has been taken out by the severity of the fire, as well as a bit of smoke damage to the upstairs area.

"The kitchen will need replacing, but the rest of the pub was relatively unharmed as we were passing the pub earlier and could see them serving pints.

"The fire was caused by a cooking accident as they were cooking steaks at a certain level and some of the fat fell out and started the blaze.

"We put out the main fire at around 6pm, but there were still crews working to put out smaller fires in the extractor fan until 10pm."

The technical support team from the fire service was also sent due to concerns about the stability of part of the two-storey building.