Royal Oak Mosborough: Co-op store takes shape at site of historic Sheffield pub demolished without permission

The Royal Oak on High Street, Mosborough, which was believed to have been between 200 and 300 years old, was unlawfully razed to the ground in May 2021 without planning permission having been secured for its destruction. There were calls for the developer to be forced to rebuild the old watering hole brick by brick, as has happened elsewhere. But officers at Sheffield Council said technicalities and the threat of fines prevented them from taking that approach despite its loss being described as significant.

Bar 24 argued at the time that it had demolished the pub due to concerns about people breaking into the building and ‘dropping dead’ after gallons of chemicals were dumped at the site. The developer applied successfully for retrospective permission to demolish the pub and build a Co-op and other shops with 32 car parking spaces where it had stood. There were 65 objections to the planning application and 10 comments in support of the plans.

Police had been called in October 2020 to reports of toxic waste being illegally dumped at the site, with chemicals seeping into the ground and contaminating a house and the grounds next door. The developer said that when a surveyor visited to assess the damage they had to cut the visit short as the fumes coming from the basement were so overpowering.

Sheffield Council’s environmental health department and the Environment Agency were also called in to investigate but no action is believed to have been taken against anyone over the dumped chemicals.