Families cleared as blaze hits Wolverhampton pub

Families had to evacuate a Wacky Warehouse at a pub after a faulty air conditioner sparked a fire.

Bosses at The Rock in Old Hill, Tettenhall, Wolverhampton, led about 25 people including staff and customers with children as young as four into the car park after the blaze started at 2.30pm yesterday.

Firefighters described the popular children's play area as "trashed". Twenty firefighters tackled the flames at the height of the blaze, which took around an hour to extinguish.

Richard Wood, acting watch commander at Wolv-erhampton fire station, said: "We believe the fire started in a faulty air-conditioning unit in the Wacky Warehouse. Everyone was evacuated by the time we arrived.

"The play area itself, which included things like a ball pit and nets, is completely trashed through fire and smoke damage."

Staff at the pub said they were unable to comment but Scott Frankham, a spokesman for Spirit Pub Company, which owns the venue, said it was a "small fire which broke out in the Wacky Warehouse".

He said: "All guests and staff were safely evacuated."