Fires at two derelict Croydon pubs being treated as ‘suspicious,’ Met Police confirms

The fires occured at the now derelict Windmill and Drum and Monkey pubs
Bill McLoughlin31 August 2023

Two fires at derelict pubs just streets apart in Croydon are being treated as suspicious, the Met Police has said.

Firefighters were called to seperate incidents at the former pubs, the Windmill and the Drum and Monkey, on Thursday morning.

According to reports, the Windmill was up for sale at £1.5million in 2021, while the Drum and Monkey was under offer at £650,000.

The Met said in a statement: “The fires are being treated as suspicious and a joint investigation is being led between the Met and the London Fire Brigade.

“There have been no reports of injuries on any of the scenes. At this early stage there have been no arrests.”

The London Fire Brigade (LFB) said it was first called to a blaze at at the Windmill, in St James’s Road at around 5.44am.

Approximately 60 firefighters responded to the fire where the roof of the property was partly alight.

The Drum & Monkey pub in Gloucester Road
PA

One of the Brigade’s 32-metre turntable ladders was used as a water tower to tackle the fire from above.

The second fire, at Drum & Monkey just 200 yards away on Gloucester Road, was reported at 6.24am.

Although there were no reports of injuries, the first and second floors were destroyed. Six fire crews and 40 firefighters attended the incident.

The fires have since been brought under control and are now being investigated, the LFB said.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in