Storm Henk blew through London last night, but it has left residents in central Croydon in fear and a fury, after pieces of roofing and masonry came tumbling down off the derelict and long-neglected Drum and Monkey pub.
After the storm: the Drum and Monkey this morning, with debris from the building across the pavement
Passers-by claim that the debris that fell off the unsecured site is “a potentially fatal hazard for pedestrians”.
The Drum and Monkey, on Gloucester Road, was one of two abandoned Croydon pubs, within 200 yards of each other, that both caught fire within an hour of each other one morning at the end of August last year.
The whole of the first and second floors of the Drum and Monkey were destroyed by fire. The incident prompted an investigation into the cause by the Metropolitan Police and London Fire Brigade.
The Drum and Monkey, while now boarded up, appears to have little else done to it to make the site safe since the blaze.
And last night’s gale-force winds did much to suggest that Croydon Council’s building safety experts have been less-than-active in conducting their legally required role of ensuring the old pub has been properly secured by the site’s owners.
One concerned resident raised the matter with the council again today, following their daily commute.
Burnt out: the long-derelict pub was destroyed by fire last summer
“This morning as I walked to the station to go to work I saw several smashed roof tiles on the pavement, dislodged by yesterday’s stormy weather, which would be fatal to pedestrians and the countless elderly residents and school children who live nearby and use the path,” they wrote in an email to Jason Perry, the borough’s Mayor.
“I previously raised the issue of debris falling onto the pavement from the roof, as it is all just hanging on by a thread.
“Please can you take action with the owner of this building immediately, to make the area safe for pedestrians walking past this eyesore which is now also a danger to life.”
The angry resident concluded: “Frankly, your lack of action is an indictment of the car-centric attitudes of the local authority in Croydon, which endlessly accommodates polluting, dangerous vehicles while disregarding those who walk or cycle.”
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