An eyesore pub with a chequered past could soon be demolished.

An application has been lodged with Middlesbrough Council to flatten The Park End pub. The boozer is no stranger to controversy and shut its doors in 2018 when the landlady, Catherine Beadnall, lost her licence after running the pub for more than 15 years.

A council committee stripped the Penistone Road boozer of its licence after members heard about a 2013 drive-by shooting, a stabbing and a post-Halloween party brawl.

The gunman involved in the shooting was never found.

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Ms Beadnall was convicted after illegally screening Premier League and Championship matches in December 2017 and February 2018.

The pub initially lost its licence for three months to allow new management to be trained but it never reopened its doors.

Now the site, which is in the process of being acquired by Middlesbrough Development Company, could be demolished to make way for bungalows.

A report by Gradon Architecture as part of the application states: “The site has been left derelict since September 2018, falling into a state of disrepair. Surrounded by fencing and with boarded-up windows, the site requires development in order to transform the neighbourhood.

“The site is currently in the centre of a residential neighbourhood, that would benefit from the demolition of the site, giving opportunity for development…If the building is left, it will continue to degrade.”

The building caught fire on Bonfire Night in 2019 with two fire engines attending the scene to bring the blaze under control. We spoke to a resident last year who was concerned that it could happen again.

Derek Howes said: “You don’t know whether it is going to go on fire. It has been on fire once but that was just the top of it. You don’t know when it is going to go up again.”

One resident also shared his memories of the boozer. Mr Pettitt said: “It used to be a lovely pub. Me dad used to go and he has never seen it like that, he passed away, but he would have had a heart attack if he’d seen it now, he used it all his life.”

Both Park End and Beckfield councillor Mick Saunders (Middlesbrough Independent Councillors Association) and Independent Middlesbrough Mayor Andy Preston have previously spoken out about the pub and said work was ongoing to sort it out.

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