A pub part-owned by England cricket star Stuart Broad suffered a major fire overnight, with eight fire engines responding to the blaze.
The Tap & Run in Upper Broughton is run by The Cat & Wickets Pub Company, which Broad launched in 2016 along with his former England and Nottinghamshire teammate Harry Gurney. The fire was first reported at 3.22am on Saturday morning after breaking out in the roof and on the first floor of the pub.
No one is believed to have been injured in the blaze, but the roof and first floor have been badly damaged. 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 fire took place while Broad was in the midst of playing for England in the second Test against New Zealand at Trent Bridge.
In a statement, Broad and Gurney said they were "heartbroken" by the news of the blaze. They said: "We’re absolutely devastated to report that a fire broke out in the pub during the night. We are heartbroken to see our beautiful pub up in flames.
"We are so sorry that we will be unable to honour any bookings for the foreseeable future and sorry for any distress that the fire has caused to villagers. We will keep everyone updated on social media in the coming days and weeks.
"We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for the outpouring of support. And finally... we will be back! Watch this space."
Local resident Kirit Chauham Nottinghamshire Live: "We woke up and knew something wasn’t quite right as we had no water, that was at around 5.30am. We looked on Twitter and then found out what was happening.
"It’s a nice pub, it’s going to be a real shame as it will set it back probably a year at least, to be honest. They might have to rebuild it and I feel very sorry for all the staff, too.
"It’s been a great community pub. Before they [Broad and Gurney] came it was quite run down and they have really turned it around. It’s a real shame."
Fellow resident Ben Rookes told Nottinghamshire Live: "My wife looked at the village WhatsApp, that’s how I found out about it. I remember hearing something between 3am and 4am - it was like a tapping sound.
"I think it was the fire crews getting the water from the road. It is devastating, to be honest, for everybody. The pub is doing brilliantly, it’s always busy, you struggle to get in on weekends.
"It’s really become part of the community now. It’s devastating for the guys. It’s one of the best pubs in Nottinghamshire and to have it in the village is amazing. It’s devastating what has happened."
Broad is England's second-highest Test wicket taker of all-time, having picked up more than 540 wickets in 154 appearances. The 35-year-old is a second generation cricketer, with his father Chris Broad opening the batting for England in 25 Test matches.
Broad is also engaged to former Saturdays singer and BBC Radio 1 presenter Mollie King. Gurney, meanwhile, retired from cricket in 2021 due to a shoulder injury after making 12 appearances for England in ODI and T20I cricket.
He also enjoyed a successful T20 franchise career, winning the T20 Blast with Nottinghamshire, the Big Bash with Melbourne Renegades and the CPL with Barbados Tridents.
