Police have uncovered a huge cannabis factory at a pub which was the childhood home of pop megastar Robbie Williams. Officers swooped on The Red Lion, in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, and seized 435 plants from inside the empty boozer at around 10am on Monday (September 12).
The pub, where singer Robbie grew up as a child, had closed three months ago despite only reopening under new ownership in November last year. Staffordshire Police officers were alerted to the grow around a fortnight ago before storming the pub this week. No arrests have yet been made.
A force spokesman said: "Police were called to a premises on Moorland Road, Stoke-on-Trent, at 10.05am on Monday following reports of suspicious activity. Officers attended and a witness reported seeing a group of men leaving a silver van and entering the premises.
"On arrival at the premises, officers located 435 seedling plants. The plants have since been seized by officers. Officers are currently reviewing CCTV of the area and inquiries are ongoing."
The pub was taken over by the chart-topper’s parents Jan and Pete Conway in 1975 when he was two and he lived there until 1977. It later became a tourist attraction on the 'Robbie Williams trail' and thousands of fans flocked there each year.
Robbie, now 48, was filmed visiting The Red Lion for a TV documentary in 1996 and recently talked about growing up there during his homecoming concert in June. He told thousands of fans at Port Vale FC's Vale Park: "I spent the first four years of my life in that pub.
"There was a blackboard outside the pub. It said 'welcome home Robbie' in chalk. It was just that little thing that set me off. What an absolutely incredible journey I've had since I left Greenbank Road. I'm getting emotional now."
During the 1996 documentary, the former Take That singer said: "There you go, this is where I was born. I was born in a pub on Oliver Reid's birthday. Not really much of a future there really was there?"
A Robbie-themed mural - which had pride of place on the front of the pub - was controversially painted over in October last year. It opened the following month under new owners after being closed for nine years but shut down once again in June.
Local residents said the pub had suffered numerous problems throughout the years and could not foresee it being opened ever again. Russell Naylor, 44, of Burslem, said: "It was sort of local knowledge that somebody has been up to no good there and it was only a matter of time before police came.
"The pub has had its fair share of problems over the years and it won't ever open again after this, I'm sure. They struggled to find buyers for it after nine years and even then it only lasted a few months so this could be the final nail in the coffin.
"It's sad really because its a historic pub in the area and obviously has it's links to Robbie, who is a proud son of Stoke."
Lisa Crisp, 33, also of Burslem, added: "I'm not really surprised. You could smell cannabis coming from it.
"It's a shame as it was always a nice pub. You'd get people come from all over because of its links to Robbie Williams."
Robbie's dad Pete went to take a look around his old pub when it was listed for sale for £150,000 in 2017. He said previously: “Because it is up for sale I went back inside recently. A friend had a look at it and I went with him.
"It was quite strange being back inside I even had a look around upstairs – I had not been up there since 1977. It brought back a lot of memories and I had a good look around. It has got a lot of history. It was a great old pub.
"It would be nice if the pub was restored because if it is turned into flats it will be a little bit of history that has disappeared."
Anyone with information or dashcam footage that could help police is asked to contact them on Facebook, Twitter, or call 101, quoting incident number 168 of September 12. Alternatively, contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
