Former England cricketers thank firefighters who tackled Nottinghamshire blaze with pub lunch
Firefighter Sam Featherstone told ITV News Central it was 'very humbling'
Firefighters who tackled the blaze when a gastro pub was destroyed in a fire last year have been invited back to the re-opened venue for lunch to say thank you.
The Tap & Run in Upper Broughton, owned by former England cricketers Stuart Broad and Harry Gurney, went up in flames in June 2022 after laundry ignited in a tumble dryer.
Crews from Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire Fire & Rescue Services attended the scene at around 4:00am.
A year on, the pub reopened its doors to customers in June this year, after more than £1.3 million was spent on restoring and renovating it.
West Bridgford Fire Station's Watch Manager, Sam Featherstone, who was there on the night of the fire, said the team were humbled by the gesture.
He said: "It's very humbling, and, you know, it's what we do the job for, so when somebody has high praise like that, it's really really nice to hear.
"I'm just glad [the pub] is still here, it's, you know, it's a staple in the area so I'm really glad we were able to limit the damage so that they could reopen, really."
Former England cricketer, Harry Gurney, is the Managing Director of the Cat & Wickets Pub Company.
Mr Gurney and his former teammate Stuart Broad both played for Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire and have since turned to hospitality, opening the Tap & Run in 2018.
Speaking about the night of the fire, he said: "When I first arrived, the building was on fire and the chap in charge came and spoke to me, and sort of said to me 'look, you could lose the whole thing here, it'll be pretty much burnt to the ground.'
"And that didn't end up being the case, but we lost the entirety of the first and second floor, and the ground floor was sort of water-damaged but we kept the footprint of the building, kept the external walls, and therefore it is still the Tap & Run, it still feels like the Tap & Run.
"So that's a testament to [the firefighters'] hard work that night."
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