A huge fire has ripped through a pub co-owned by England cricket star Stuart Broad. Firefighters remain at the scene of the incident at The Tap & Run, also co-owned by former Nottinghamshire seamer Harry Gurney, on Saturday morning (June 11).
The fire, first reported at 3.22am, broke out in the roof and first floor of the gastropub. Three fire engines remain at the scene of the incident in Main Road, Upper Broughton, on the Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire border.
Speaking at the scene, Jonathan Wilson, station manager at Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue, said: "We were mobilised to this building fire and we had eight appliances here and an aerial ladder platform. Swift action by the crews has contained the fire to the building but the building is quite badly damaged.
"We are working to dampen it down and will probably be here doing that for the next couple of hours at least. There was not believed to be anybody inside the building and the fire was contained to the building itself. Crews from Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire together have been working to deal with it.
"We are going to concentrate on putting the fire out - we are having a structural engineer have a look at the building as well to see if it is structurally safe, then there will be an investigation."
The pub has been taped off by the fire service with the roof completely gutted by the flames. England bowler Broad and Gurney launched the Cat and Wickets Pub Company in 2016 along with friend and experienced pub manager Dan Cramp.
The pub was formerly known as The Golden Fleece, which had been closed for two years prior to the Cat and Wickets taking it on. It reopened as The Tap & Run gastropub in September 2018. The Cat and Wickets' debut pub was The Three Crowns in Wymeswold, which opened in August 2016.
In 2019, The Tap & Run won an award for best casual dining experience in the region. It picked up the award at the Leicestershire Tourism and Hospitality awards which honoured pubs, restaurants and attractions. Broad, meanwhile, has been playing in the Test series against New Zealand with the second test currently taking place at Trent Bridge.
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