Concerns over safety of fire-hit house

The Victorian-style property has become a magnet for anti-social behaviour, residents say

People living near a fire damaged house are demanding action to stop people from getting inside.

Ford Green House in Smallthorne dates back to 1843.

But it has been set on fire three times in the past 12 years and local residents have complained the property has become a magnet for anti-social behaviour.

A number of applications have been made to demolish the building. Stoke-on-Trent City Council has not commented on the situation.

'A nuisance'

The house was set on fire in 2012, then again in 2022 and most recently last weekend.

Staffordshire Police has said witnesses saw a group of young people, aged 12 to 14, running away from the area on Sunday 24 March.

Officers said it is unsafe and have urged people to stay away.

One nearby resident, Lisa Jones, said: “I just wish somebody bought it and wanted to do something nice with it, it’s a shame.

"At the moment it’s just a nuisance and is obviously attracting the wrong type of people as it keeps being set on fire.”

Another resident, Ann Street, said: “I didn’t want them to knock it down, but now I think it’s for the best."

Future unknown

The city council‘s planning portal lists four planning applications made since 2009, with the demolition of outbuildings and conversion of Ford Green House into two dwellings and erection of a further seven dwellings approved in 2020.

However, just two years later an application to demolish Ford Green House was refused by the council.

Now the future of the site is not known.

There is a pending planning application from March 2023 to demolish the property which was submitted just 10 days after the previous refusal.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.

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