Historic Wigan building at centre of preservation battles looks set to be demolished after blaze

Westwood Hall has been derelict and believed unoccupied for some time, but two decades ago it was subject to confrontations involving the then tenant Carl Lillis, who had lived there for more than three decades and wanted to stay put, and Wigan Council which had condemned itand wanted it pulling down because a commerical park was being built nearby.

The premises on Westwood Lane, which Mr Lillis said had been there since at least 1841 but he believed went back at least more than a century than that, survived.

At least until the evening of Saturday April 23 when a large fire broke out inside.

Crews from Wigan, Hindley and Atherton all attended when the emergency was reported at 6.30pm and efforts were made to douse the flames.

However, because the hall was derelict, there was no-one inside and there was a danger of its collapsing but the blaze not spreading, the firefighters left until Sunday morning to complete the job while consulting with a building inspector.

In the meantime the roof of the property had collapsed into the middle of the building.

Wigan watch manager Paul Gibbons said: “The cause of the fire is not known at this stage but it caused a mess and it looks like the hall will have to be demolished.”

Anyone with information is asked to ring Wigan police on 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.