Extent of damage caused by lead theft at Bilston Town Hall revealed in video

Bilston Town Hall has been closed since Wednesday after lead was stripped from the roof of the building, causing masonry to fall onto the pavement below and leaving the area around Church Street closed on safety grounds.

Tens of thousands of pounds of damage has been caused from the theft and a video released by Wolverhampton Council has shown the further issues caused by inclement summer weather conditions which saw the Hall flooded yesterday.

In the video, large pools of water can be seen on the tilted flooring of the hall, as well pouring down the stairs and visible tracks of water running down the walls of the building.

Events set to take place at the Hall over the next few days and the weekend have also been cancelled, with Wolverhampton Council saying it would be reviewing what events can take place there as soon as it can work out how long repairs will take.

A spokesman said: "The weekly tea dance and monthly film club have been cancelled until further notice.

"We have also had to cancel the regular Soul Night and a church charity dinner, both of these were due to be held next weekend.

"Anything from August onwards will be reviewed once we know how long repairs will take."

Wolverhampton Council cabinet member for city development, jobs and skills, Councillor Chris Burden, had said that the theft had been despicable and urged anyone who knew the people responsible to get contact the police.

He said: “Bilston Town Hall sits at the heart of the community, and we have invested heavily in improving the facility in recent years while remaining sensitive to its heritage status.

“This is a despicable act by mindless thieves who have a total disregard of community needs and safety. It has already forced the closure of the town hall in the short term and other events will need to be postponed until we can guarantee everyone’s safety.

“The repercussions of this theft are absolutely devastating for everyone who uses the town hall, and I would urge anyone who has any information about the theft to please call the police as soon as possible on 101, quoting crime reference 20/597776/24, so we can bring the culprits to book.”

It's not the first time that masonry and bits from buildings have fallen from buildings in the region, with past instances including Trilby Graham being crushed by falling masonry in West Bromwich in 2003, parts of a building falling off on Lichfield Street in Wolverhampton in 2009 and Tahnie Martin dying after being hit by a wooden water tank cover that broke off of the roof of Marks and Spencer in Wolverhampton in 2017.