Firefighters were called to a popular former pub in Stroud this evening, Wednesday.
Smoke was spotted billowing from the roof of the unoccupied Market Tavern in Union Street, creating an acrid smell across the town.
An eyewitness told Stroud Times: “I spotted two firefighters wearing oxygen masks – they were on top of the back bar roof and it looked like they were attempting to cut into the roof with shovels.
“This incident brings back lots of memories when an awful fire gutted the place back in January 1990 when the pub was Stroud’s most popular venue and known as the Pelican Inn.”
Access to Cornhill at the London Road junction was sealed off by police, with officers in attendance.
Earlier this year it was revealed the pub could be demolished as part of Stroud Town Council’s Neighbourhood Development Plan Review.
The ‘Peli’ was a much-loved Stroud social institution throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Subsequently the pub was named the Union Inn and latterly the Market Tavern until its closure in 2014, when it was sold to an investor by leisure property specialist, Fleurets, for in excess of the guide price, of £350,000.
