Community rallies around staff of pub destroyed by fire

The Bull, in Hockley near Southend, caught fire in the early hours of Saturday morning.

The Chef & Brewer Greene King pub is a 16th-century Grade II listed traditional olde worlde pub.

Although nobody was injured in the fire, staff members who lived on the premises lost their belongings.

Six crews

Six fire crews dealt with the blaze for almost 10 hours, with an aerial ladder platform requested so firefighters could tackle the fire more effectively from a height.

The cause of the incident is still being investigated.

A fundraising page has been set up to support the four staff who lived at the pub.

Simon Harris, a regular at the Bull, has raised almost all of his initial £2,000 goal.

'Community spirit'

He said: “We have already seen an amazing amount of community spirit.

“The funds will be used to purchase items directly as and when they are identified by those concerned, as opposed to just handing any funds over to another appeal. “

Staff thanked supporters in a post on the pub Facebook page.

The post said: “We would like to first thank everyone for their support, it has been very humbling. It has showed us what this great pub means to this community and me personally. It has been a pleasure to be part of it for the last two years."

"While there is clearly significant damage to the property and possessions, the most important thing is that all team members and guests are OK and no one was hurt."

The post said the pub would be closed until further notice.

It added: “A process is now in place to secure the site and make sure all our team are looked after.

“A huge thank you to all the emergency services for their support and to everyone else involved.”