Sports club murder site to go under the hammer

The site of a notorious murder in Bilston is among more than £1 million of properties across the Black Country to come under the hammer at an auction at Villa Park this week.

Gavin's Sports Bar in Hall Street has been closed since the fatal shooting of Swinder Singh Batth following a row over a laser pen almost three years ago.

It was being run by Mr Batth, from Moxley, and his son Gavin when the shooting took place in July 2009. Sukwinder Sanghera, aged 24, of West Bromwich, and accomplice Jasbir Takhar, 23, are now serving life for the murder.

In April last year it was put up for auction for £225,000, but on Thursday the two-storey Grade II lis-ted building, originally built as a hotel in 1810, will be on the block for a guide price of just £94,000-£98,000.

Among the other sites up for auction on Thursday are two offices at the Waterfront business park at Brierley Hill, a former bar and nightclub in Bilston and string of apartments and houses.

The event is being run by CPBigwood – the auction company headed by Stourbridge property tycoon Paul Bassi – on Thursday. Around 101 lots are up for sale including 51 vacant homes and five pubs.

A total of 27 properties are up for sale on behalf of receivers and mortgage lenders under the Law of Property Act, underlining the harsh economic climate.

CPBigwood joint head of auctions Ron Darlington, said: "There have been loads of inquiries on the phones and via the internet. It is looking good."

In Willenhall a freehold block of nine homes, at Croft Apartments, are up for sale for a guide price of £280,000-£300,000 and 89-92 Walsall Street, converted into eight apartments, is up for sale with a guide price of £200,000-£225,000,

At Brierley Hill, E1 and E2 Hagley Court North, at The Waterfront, are two modern two-storey buildings within the office development near to the Merry Hill Shopping Centre.

They have a guide price of £100,000 to £125,000.

A large detatched house at 85 Tettenhall Road, Wolverhampton, has guide price of £385,000.