Inside an abandoned needle-infested ‘pub from hell’

By Robert Mann

- Last updated on GMT

Grim discovery: the Albion pub has become a nest for drug addicts since its closure in 2010
Grim discovery: the Albion pub has become a nest for drug addicts since its closure in 2010

Related tags Drugs

Hundreds of filthy needles lie strewn across the tables where drinkers used to sit and chat in a ‘once thriving’ pub.

The Albion in Grimsby, north-east Lincolnshire, was once a popular watering hole beloved by the town’s dock workers before calling last orders eight years ago.

Once dubbed as one of Grimsby’s “most popular” pubs, the Edwardian building has since become a den for hardcore drug users after falling into disrepair.

Harrowing pictures now show how the local boozer has become a needle-infested “pub from hell”.

Intruders have broken through makeshift holes in the roof, ripped up the floor in search of valuable copper and cooked up heroin on every surface.

The core of the pub is still recognisable as the furniture and ornate features remain intact, but the onslaught of unwanted visitors has now taken its toll after almost a decade of neglect.

The constant plague of trespass and sheer extent of the rot on the structure means the establishment is now facing the wrecking ball.

The pub’s owner, Surrinder Mehat, says he feels he has no option but to tear it down and start from scratch.

His architect Terry Litten said he “risked life and limb” detailing the state of the building ahead of a new planning application to replace it with a three-storey block of flats.

“I didn’t want to stand in there long because half the floor was missing,” Litten exclaimed.

“I have been in the business for 50 years and I have never seen a building as drug-infested as that.

“They were sleeping on the floor or on doors they had taken off the hinges – they had broken in through the roof in some cases.”

An application to demolish the pub and build eight flats on the site in currently “pending consideration” by North East Lincolnshire Council.

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