Fire breaks out overnight at Wolves' Molineux Stadium causing 'considerable damage'

A fire has caused 'considerable damage' to the Wolverhampton Wanderers' Molineux Stadium overnight.

The football club says the blaze has impacted a hospitality suite and a number of adjacent areas in the Billy Wright Stand.

No-one was hurt but roads were closed overnight and nearby residents could see smoke pouring from the stadium.

Wolves say West Midlands Fire Service were in attendance within five minutes, and crews from Wolverhampton, Fallings Park, Willenhall and Bilston tackled the fire, which started in the Sir Jack Hayward Suite bar area.

More than 20 firefighters were at the scene and acted quickly to prevent the fire from spreading to other parts of the stadium.

The club has already warned fans who are scheduled to use the affected hospitality areas at the next home game may have to change their plans.

Andy Howard, watch manager at Wolverhampton fire station, said: "There's been a fire in the bar area. It was contained to the room of origin but the bar area and part of the workspace was involved in fire. Otherwise it was just smoke damage to the rest of the floor."

Wolves’ facilities, safety and security director, Steve Sutton, said: “Thank you to the quick and excellent work of West Midlands Fire Service for their prompt assistance in tackling the flames and getting the fire under control as quickly as possible.

“It will take some days to fully assess the damage that has been caused, however it is quite significant and will take some time to repair. Any supporter packages affected for the next game will be communicated by the relevant departments over the coming days.

“The most important thing of course, is that no one was present at the time, apart from our 24-hour security team, and no one was hurt.

“We apologise to residents in the area for the very loud alarms that went off late into the night, but hope they understand their necessity at such a critical time.”

West Midlands Fire Service say the fire is believed to have started accidentally, in an electrical appliance.

In a statement, it said:  "At 1.56am this morning we responded to a fire at The Molineux Stadium, Wolverhampton."The first of four fire crews and 20 firefighters arrived two minutes after being mobilised.

"We contained the fire to a conference suite bar area. It was out by 3.40am.