Homes evacuated and road closed as suspected drugs lab found in Wolverhampton

The discovery was made by firefighters at around 7pm yesterday when they were called to a unit in a row of shops on Cannock Road, in Park Village, to reports of a smell of gas.

Chemicals were found inside the property, and the area was cordoned off by police with around 10 tenants and workers evacuated from the nearby buildings as a precaution.

The building, the former Pappu Sweet Centre, remained cordoned off today as the investigation continued and to allow the chemicals to be safely removed. Substances discovered were being analysed by a police scientific advisor.

Some nearby businesses were told to stay closed today while police remained at the scene. Nearby traders spoke of their shock at the discovery.

Ramlubhaya Rattu, aged 21, was working in the nearby Banga Supermarket with his mother Kulvinder Banga when the police told them to leave, and was still waiting outside at 11.30pm.

He said: "A police officer came in around 7.30pm and told us to get out of the shop and close it, so we had to shut.

"The police said to everyone who lives upstairs to get out too."

His uncle Hans Banga owns several of the shop units and apartments in the block, including the unit under suspicion, and he had to put three of his tenants up in a nearby flat for the night after they were removed by police.

He said: "I got a call about 8.30pm to tell me they had closed the shops and told everyone to go home.

"I came here and it was all sealed off, and the police wanted to see what was in all the garages at the back of the shops."

He added: "I was out when the chemicals were found but my son was working in our shop Banga Supermarket, which is just a few doors down.

"I was very shocked when I heard the news and I rushed back to the store.

"I had no idea that this kind of activity was happening in the building.

"I rent out the flat above and the couple living there had to be evacuated. They were very worried so I put them up in another property.

"This is not something you see every day. I hope the perpetrators are caught and punished."

Mohammed Khan, owner of Express & Star Park Village Newsagents said: "I was advised not to open my shop this morning but if I don't open then I will lose out on business.

"Some of the other shops in the area have not opened but I cannot afford to do this.

"I am still very shocked that a suspected drugs laboratory has been found just two doors down from my shop. I did not know the people who worked there but I never expected a thing."

Balbinder Kumar, 50, of Crowther Street said: "I have only been living here for four weeks and can't believe what has happened.

"This is a mixed community everybody keeps to themselves but you still don't expect to find chemicals in a building not far from your own house."

The building being investigated is the Punjabi Tadka, the former Pappu Sweet Centre, which was the centre of controversy in 2008 when workers continued to serve food while an employee's corpse lay inside.

The worker's body, which was lying on a sofa yards from where kebabs were prepared.

Substances discovered at the scene were analysed by a police scientific advisor, and this morning the building remained cordoned off for more investigations and for the substances to be removed.