Villagers left devastated after fire at Coneythorpe pub
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Last updated Nov 14, 2020
Firefighters tackle the blaze at the Tiger Inn, Coneythorpe, back in November.

Neighbours have been left devastated after a fire at a much-loved community pub in Coneythorpe last night.

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue were called to the Tiger Inn at 5.04pm after a fire broke out in the pub’s kitchen, which had only been fitted in January.

Crews from Harrogate, Knaresborough and Acomb were called out to the blaze which lasted for six-hours. Firefighters used an aerial ladder platform, main jets, breathing apparatus and hose reels to tackle the incident.

Owners said the fire was accidental and that they will be aim to reopen the pub “as soon as we possibly can”.

But neighbours say they are devastated as the pub is a pillar of the community in the village.


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One resident, Carole Topham said she saw smoke coming from the building before calling the fire service.

She said:

“We saw billowing smoke at first and called the fire bridge who spent hours at the site.

“We are devastated for the owners, this is our community pub and we were looking forward to a Christmas get together.”

The damage after the fire, which broke out in the pub’s new kitchen.

Meanwhile, Karin Terry, another neighbour, said:

“The flames got bigger and bigger.

“We were very worried about a gas tank that was at the back of the building.”

The fire is a blow for the pub, which traditionally hosts a village Christmas party.

A member of the Gill family, which owns the pub, said they were “gutted” and had been looking forward to celebrating Christmas with the villagers.

He told the Stray Ferret:

“Obviously the family is devastated about it. We had 15 weeks of closed down and reopened on July 2 and was almost as busy before we went into lockdown.

“We will reopen as soon as we possibly can do. We have just been speaking to the fire fighters today, it was an accidental fire and we just want to get back to where we have been.

“We are a bit gutted this year because we do a village Christmas party where all the villagers get together. We were struggling with the lockdown and social distancing and how we were going to fit everyone in.

“There’s about 70 odd people who live in the village and they all tend to get in here, but that’s gone out of the window now. We will just see when we can get reopen better and stronger than ever.”