Families living next to a fire-hit historic house are demanding action to stop young troublemakers getting inside. Ford Green House in Smallthorne is believed to be Stoke-on-Trent’s oldest surviving home.
But the Victorian-style property has become a magnet for anti-social behaviour over the last 15 years. The latest incident saw emergency services race to the Ford Green Road site last weekend.
Officers say the dilapidated house – which dates back as far as at least 1843 – is now ‘unsafe’ and are urging people to stay away. Previous plans to knock down the property and build houses on the site have never materialised.
According to deed documents, the house, not to be confused with the nearby Ford Green Hall – the 17th century timber-framed farmhouse which is now a museum – may well have once been home to the Baroness of Stafford.
Residents living nearby say they just want a solution to the ongoing problem. Tudor Rose Way resident Lisa Jones said: “I just wish somebody bought it and wanted to do something nice with it, it’s a shame. At the moment it’s just a nuisance and is obviously attracting the wrong type of people as it keeps being set on fire.”
Another resident Ann Street said: “I didn’t want them to knock it down but now I think it’s for the best. It’s a real shame but it’s now an attraction for anti-social behaviour.”
The house has been set on fire three times in the past 12 years, first in 2012, then again in 2022 and most recently over the weekend.
Staffordshire Police have confirmed that witnesses describe a group of young people, aged 12 to 14 running away from the area on Sunday, March 24.
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