Greene King dismisses ‘arson day’ letter as a hoax

A letter shared on Twitter outlines plans, supposedly devised by the pub’s new land owners, to burn down the recently closed Sumners pub on what is referred to by the letter’s author as an 'Arson Day'.

Hi @greeneking@greenekingcares, can you confirm if this flier, supposedly issued by you to residents surrounding The Sumners in Preston, Lancashire is real? pic.twitter.com/BESLf5J6Lu

— A Beer In Preston (@abeerinpreston) July 23, 2018

The letter, which contains a Greene King logo and is signed from “Greene King Limited”, states: “As you are aware of the (Sumners) closure, the new land owners have decided to hold an ‘Arson Day’ on the 10th August 2018.

“We would advise (neighbouring residence) to close their windows around 7.30pm to keep the toxic smoke from entering their homes.

“We take no responsibility of hot embers entering your property nor starting the arson, this is the responsibility of the new land owners and their decision to hold an arson day.”

Greene King responded via its official Twitter account to dismiss the letter as a hoax stating: “Thanks for bringing this to our attention. Please be assured this letter is a hoax and was not sent by us.”

The Morning Advertiser​ contacted Greene King for additional comment, however, the brewer and operator declined to discuss the matter further.

Thanks for bringing this to our attention. Please be assured this letter is a hoax and was not sent by us.

— Greene King (@greeneking) July 23, 2018

The pub, which was previously a regular haunt for fans of English Football League Championship side Preston North End, is still owned by Greene King, and was put on the market in July 2018 at an asking price of around £600,000.

Having closed its doors on Friday 20 July, work began on clearing trees surrounding the venue on Saturday 21 July.