Full Monty club blaze 'deliberate' - fire service

A blaze at a former working men's club which was a backdrop for hit film The Full Monty was started deliberately, South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service has said.

Emergency crews were called to the fire at the ex-Shiregreen Working Men's Club on Shiregreen Lane in Sheffield at about 19:20 BST on Tuesday.

Nobody was injured in the incident and crews had left the scene by 22:30 BST, according to the fire service.

A South Yorkshire Police spokesperson said an investigation into the cause of the blaze had been launched and inquiries were "ongoing".

The club closed in 2019 and the following year, Sheffield City Council's planning officers refused an application to bulldoze the building after more than 1,000 people signed a petition to save it.

Ann Bentley, who was behind the petition, said she believed the fire marked "the end of an era".

Ms Bentley, who ran the club with husband Roy for 15 years, including while the famous movie was being shot there, said: "It was a fantastic Working Men's Club when my husband and I had it. It was very, very busy."

While the fire was "sad to see", the club would forever remain an "icon of the city", Ms Bentley added.

"It'll never lose that, really, will it?"

Oscar-winning comedy The Full Monty depicted the lives of Sheffield steelworkers who were made redundant and turned to stripping at a club to earn a living.

The movie, starring Robert Carlyle and Mark Addy, ended up as one of the best-loved and highest-grossing British films of the 1990s.

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