HISTORIC paintings which had proved a crowd puller for the New Inn, Bacup, were destroyed in a blaze on Monday.

Proprietor Paul Grenaghan has been assessing the full extent of the damage to the Rochdale Road pub which he has owned for just under a year.

The wall paintings covered three walls of the snug and were a century old. They were discovered during decoration work at the pub and had attracted national interest.

Structural engineers have advised Paul that the fire, which started in the bar area and forced Paul and three others to jump out of a first-floor window to escape, has made a wall upstairs unsafe.

Paul and girlfriend Emma Talbot, licensee Les Knights and his fiancM-Ne Sheila Walton, were treated for smoke inhalation, cuts and bruises and Les was taken to Rochdale Infirmary for a precautionary check.

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