Fire-ravaged former pub to undergo full repairs
Jayden StraceyA former pub building where a cannabis factory was discovered following a large fire is to undergo repairs, after officials approved a series of works.
The blaze broke out at the former Cat and Fiddle pub on Magdalen Street in Norwich last year, which in recent times had been turned into flats.
No arrests were made following the blaze and the criminal investigation has since been closed by Norfolk Police.
The building's owner, Jonathan Thursby, the chief executive of nearby music venue Epic Studios, has been granted permission by Norwich City Council to rectify the damage, including replacing the roof spaces.
When the building caught fire in June 2025, it brought part of the city to a standstill, with neighbouring buildings evacuated and Magdalen Street shut for a week.
After it was made safe, investigators discovered 40 cannabis plants and hydroponic equipment inside.
The fire was blamed on an electrical fault. No one was injured.
In planning documents, Thursby's agent McArthur Tring Architects, stated the pub was believed to have opened in the 1760s, but by 2022 it had permission to change its use to a ground floor shopand flats.
Remedial works can now begin, which will aim to make the building "safe, secure and weather tight", according to the documents.
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No alterations have been planned for the internal layout, but the repairs aim to reinstate its previous condition so it can continue to be used as flats.
Approving the application, a council officer said the proposal offered "no degree of harm to the overall significance of the Grade II listed building", and agreed repairs that would "facilitate further works to bring the building back into a usable condition".
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