A 17th-century pub destroyed by a fire is set to be demolished due to health and safety risks.
The owners say that the Chequers Inn on Hall End Road in Wootton is “structurally unsafe” following September’s fire, and have submitted an application to Bedford Borough Council to have it torn down.
According to the planning, design and access statement, all the first-floor and roof timbers were destroyed, with only fragments of charred framing and sections of unstable masonry remaining.
Read: Man confirmed dead following fire at historic Wootton pub
The application’s heritage statement added that the pub had high historic interest as a social hub for over 200 years, but the fire left no meaningful historic fabric for conservation.
More information can be found on the council’s planning portal, references 25/02237/FUL and 25/02238/LBC.
The overall consultation expiry date for both applications is Wednesday, 17 December 2025.
The former landlord of the pub died in a fire at the property back in September.
Police were called to the pub on 19 September due to concerns for the welfare of a man at the pub. He was then taken to the hospital with self-inflicted injuries, where he died the next day.
By John Guinn
Local Democracy Reporter
