Pensnett community centre fire sparks 'avoid the area' warning
Firefighters were called to Chapel Street in the early hours of Tuesday morning (August 19).
West Midlands Fire Service took to X just before 5am to urge people to stay away "where possible".
READ MORE: Injured taxi drivers 'traumatised' after 'racially aggravated assault' outside Wolverhampton station
The post read: "We have four crews in attendance at Chapel Street, Pensnett, where they have responded to building fire.
"Please avoid the area, where possible."
A Staffordshire and West Midlands Fire Control spokesperson said the 999 call came in at 4.30am, reporting a fire at a community centre.
READ MORE: Bogus doorstep caller shoves elderly woman over and grabs handbag
They said firefighters were still at the scene at 6.45am but the fire was now out.
West Midlands Police officers were also in attendance.
BirminghamLive has contacted the force for comment.
The fire service has also been approached for further information.
Stay up-to-date by following our Twitter feed @birmingham_live or liking our Facebook page.
To get the latest news emailed to you, sign up here, it's free.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
16 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Arrest warrants issued after women fail to appear for Jellycat thefts sentencing
Arrest warrants have been issued for two women who did not show up at court for sentencing after stealing hundreds of pounds worth of Jellycat toys. Warrants without bail were issued for Sarah Jordan, 35, of no fixed abode, and Amber Clarke, 24, of Nine Elms, south-west London, after they failed to turn up for their sentencing at Wimbledon Magistrates' Court on Tuesday. Jordan is charged with eight counts of theft from shops in Kingston upon Thames and Wimbledon between December 2024 to May 2025 and an allegation of failure to surrender for a previous hearing at the same court. The theft charges include six counts of theft where she was alleged to have stolen numerous Jellycats valued at a total of £1,716.57. Food and clothing were alleged to have been taken in the other thefts, according to the charges. Clarke had previously pleaded guilty to 16 counts of theft in shops in south and south-west London between February 2024 to January 2025. They included thefts on two days where she stole 16 Jellycat soft toys worth £4,454.84 and another day when she 'stole a number of soft toys' to the value of £100 belonging to Waterstones in Lambeth, the charges state. Various grocery and laundry items were stolen in the other thefts. Clarke has also pleaded guilty to a charge of obstructing or resisting a constable in the execution of their duty, assault by beating, failure to surrender for a previous hearing at the same court and assaulting an emergency worker.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Ministers braced for further legal challenges after High Court Epping decision
Ministers could face further legal challenges over asylum hotels after a council was granted a temporary injunction blocking migrants from being housed there. Nigel Farage hailed the High Court decision in Epping as a 'victory' and said he hopes it 'provides inspiration to others across the country', while the shadow home secretary argued that residents have 'every right to object' to people being housed in their area. The Home Office had warned the judge that an injunction could 'interfere' with the department's legal obligations, and lawyers representing the hotel's owner argued it would set a 'precedent'. Epping Forest District Council had asked a judge to issue an interim injunction stopping migrants from being accommodated at the Bell Hotel. The hotel has been at the centre of a series of protests in recent weeks after an asylum seeker who was staying there was charged with sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl. Reacting to the news, Reform UK leader Mr Farage said that 'young, undocumented males who break into the UK illegally should NOT be free to walk the streets anywhere. They must be detained and deported'. 'I hope that Epping provides inspiration to others across the country,' he said. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch suggested that the migrants housed at the hotel 'need to be moved out of the area immediately', while her shadow home secretary Chris Philp said that 'residents should never have had to fight their own government just to feel safe in their own town'. He said: 'Local residents have every right to feel safe in their own streets and every right to object when their community is treated as a dumping ground.' Lawyers for the Home Office had warned the court that an injunction 'runs the risk of acting as an impetus for further violent protests'. Edward Brown KC also said the injunction would 'substantially interfere' with the Home Office's statutory duty in potentially avoiding a breach of the asylum seekers' human rights. Several protests and counter-protests have been held in the town since a then-resident at the hotel was accused of trying to kiss a teenage girl. Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu has denied the charges against him and is due to stand trial later this month. A second man who resides at the hotel, Syrian national Mohammed Sharwarq, has separately been charged with seven offences, while several other men have been charged over disorder outside the hotel. In a ruling on Tuesday, Mr Justice Eyre granted the temporary injunction, but extended the time limit by which the hotel must stop housing asylum seekers to September 12. He also refused to give Somani Hotels Limited, the hotel's owner, the green light to challenge his ruling, but the company could still ask the Court of Appeal for the go-ahead to appeal against the judgment. Piers Riley-Smith, for the company, asked the judge to be allowed to appeal against the ruling, citing its 'wide-reaching ramifications'. He said that there was a 'compelling reason for the appeal to be heard', including the 'precedent that would be set' by the ruling and the impact that it could have 'on the wider strategy of the (Home Secretary) in relation to the housing of asylum seekers in hotels as part of meeting their statutory duties'.
Washington Post
an hour ago
- Washington Post
Officials win court case to remove asylum-seekers from a UK hotel that's been the focus of protests
LONDON — A hotel near London that has become the focus of heated anti-migrant protests in recent weeks will have to remove asylum-seekers who are staying there after authorities won a legal bid Tuesday to oust the migrants. Officials from the Epping Forest District Council asked a judge to issue an order to temporarily block migrants from being accommodated at the Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex, due to 'unprecedented levels of protest and disruption' over asylum-seeker accommodation. Thousands of people, some chanting 'save our kids' and 'send them home,' have protested near the hotel after an asylum-seeker living there was charged with sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl. Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu has denied charges against him and is due to stand trial later this month. The protests, which included local people as well as some members of organized far-right groups, started out peaceful but turned violent. At least nine people were arrested in connection with the demonstrations. Anti-racism demonstrators have also staged counterprotests outside the Bell Hotel and other sites. Philip Coppel, a lawyer for local officials in Epping, said the hotel's housing of asylum-seekers had provided a 'feeding ground for unrest' and community tension. A High Court judge ruled Tuesday that the hotel must stop housing asylum-seekers by Sept. 12. It wasn't immediately clear where the migrants would be moved to. Last summer, days of anti-immigrant rioting rocked towns and cities across England and Northern Ireland, triggered by the killing of three young girls at a summer dance class in Southport, northwest England. Crowds in more than two dozen towns attacked hotels housing migrants, as well as mosques, police stations and a library, driven partly by online misinformation claiming the attacker was a migrant who had arrived in the U.K. by small boat. Some rioters targeted nonwhite people and threw bricks and fireworks at police. Tensions have long simmered over the government's policy of using hundreds of hotels across the country to house migrants who are awaiting a decision on their asylum status. Critics say it costs taxpayers millions of pounds, the hotels become flashpoints in communities, and leave migrants feeling targeted by local residents.
