Repairs to Wolverhampton Brewbakers underway

Work has started on the old Brewbakers building on Willenhall Road in Horseley Fields this week.

It comes after there was a fire at the site, which used to supply home and garden furniture last month.

Council chiefs served notice that they wanted work done there in July but say the blaze has held the project up.

Council spokesman Tim Clark said: "This building is an eyesore on a main route into the city. The council served a notice on the owners of the building under Section 215 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990.

"Works should have been completed a month from that date. However, we do understand that the recent fire has delayed things."

The building owners are required to cover all broken, missing and damaged windows; replace or repair missing and broken doors; remove all vegetation and remove all redundant wiring and alarm boxes from the building elevations.

Mr Clark added: "We are pleased to see that the owner now appears to be complying with the notice."

If the building owner did not comply with the notice it could result in prosecution, the council carrying out the works and gaining a court order for the owner to pay the associated costs, or a charge registered on the property which would be payable if the property was ever sold.

Ammo Chana, of AC Building Services, said he had been hired by the owner to fix up the building as the council had told him it was an eyesore.

Windows were being boarded up then painted black, and overgrown plants near the front steps had been cleared.

The old Brewbakers warehouse has been empty for more than 10 years. The firm once had stores across the Black Country and Staffordshire.