FAMILIES owe their lives to an alert
police officer who sprang into action when fire broke out at one of
Warwickshire’s oldest pubs in the early hours.
Flames engulfed the historic 16th Century Roebuck Inn, a black and white timber building in Smith Street, Warwick, at about 2am. PC Stu Collins, 27, a member of Warwickshire Police’s reactive crew based at Leamington police station, said:
“I
was driving along when I saw the smoke, raised the alarm, and got
people out of the pub and the flats on either side, including a family
with a baby.” Pub landlady
Dilia Scott told the Times: “We were all asleep and not aware of
anything. We were woken up by a policeman banging on the door. He said
there was smoke at the back of the pub. “If he had not woken us up, I can’t be sure we’d be here now. We are very lucky. It could have been much worse.” Mrs Scott, 31, and her
37-year-old husband, Michael, the licensee and a qualified chef, have been at the pub for 11 months. They took their four-year-old son, Kieran, and seven-month-old Labrador Tammy to safety. Six fire crews were called to the pub, where a wheelie bin inside the rear of the premises was blazing. Flames spread to upstairs rooms used for storage but no-one was hurt. Mrs Scott said toilets at the back of the pub had been
destroyed and flames spread to the hayloft, causing a ceiling to collapse. Crews from Leamington, Stratford, Warwick and Southam attended. “We
had six appliances there for about three hours and there was quite a
bit of damage,” said Leamington-based crew manager Roy Astles. “The fire is not suspicious. We think it may have been caused by a discarded cigarette.” The
occupants of the pub and neighbours were outside when firefighters
arrived. Crews later spent time cutting away charred beams and council
gritters had to be called out because water on the road froze. “It was
like a skating rink,” said Mr Astles. Mrs Scott said she had no idea how the fire started as neither she or her husband nor any of the pub staff smoked. She added: “We are awaiting the arrival of an insurance assessor and the pub will be closed until further notice.” It
is the second time in recent months that bad luck has struck The
Roebuck. The pub had to close for a couple of days after flooding last
year. | 
Coventry News 
