Fire swept through Yates’s Wine Lodge in Wolverhampton this afternoon.

See also: Pictures: Fire drama in city centre

Hundreds of shoppers and passers-by watched in horror as flames engulfed the front of the pub in Queen Square.

Workers and customers were evacuated just after 2pm after fire alarms sounded.

Flames were seen leaping through the doorway and the roof. The doors have been destroyed and the signs left in tatters.

It is believed the blaze may have been started by a discarded cigarette.

An ashtray was seen on fire at the doorway of the pub as the outbreak took hold.

Two fire engines were called to the scene and 10 firefighters battled the flames in the rain.

Staff and customers from surrounding shops and businesses were also evacuated as a precaution as smoke billowed from the building into the street.

A cordon was erected from the Moneyway shop to the left of Yates’s, around the pub, past Ladbrokes betting shop and to Babylon nightclub.

Eye-witness Shane Rogan, aged 19, from Pennfields, was walking past the pub as the fire started to take hold.

He said he noticed a cigarette box on the floor outside the entrance alongside an ashtray which was on fire. It is believed the burning ashtray had been thrown into the street by staff.

“I then looked inside and thought only the side of the bar was on fire,” he said. “I didn’t realise it was so big or that it would spread.”
It is understood no-one was injured.

The pub is one of Wolverhampton’s largest venues and underwent an £185,000 revamp last summer, reopening in September.