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From the hhttps://www.newsshopper.co.uk
25th July 2025, By Alex Marsh.
The Mitre pub Croydon Road Penge demolition nears end.
The Mitre pub in Croydon Road, Penge, is being partially demolished
(Image: Bromley Council).
A woman has described her shock at the partial demolition of a pub
described as the “Buckingham Palace of Penge”.
Bromley Council decided to knock down part of The Mitre pub and two
adjacent shops last month after monitoring showed that they had become
dangerously unstable.
Last year, scaffolding was put up around the block over concerns about
the structural stability of the 160-year-old pub during building works.
In 2022, planning permission was granted to build 10 flats above the
pub.
Further cracking in the structure of the block this year prompted the
local authority to evacuate people living next to the pub six weeks ago.
One neighbour, who asked not to be named, said that the council had been
“very accommodating”, and had been housing them in a nearby hotel.
“The evacuation was a complete and utter shock and it completely
disrupted all of our lives,” they said.
“It’s just sad because the pub had been there for such a long time.
People who live around here know The Mitre - it’s like Buckingham
Palace, it’s a well-known name.
“But what the council has done is to make the building safe and make the
residents safe. It has been nothing but supportive to us.”
Bromley Council has said that work to demolish the unstable parts of the
affected buildings is almost complete.
By tonight (July 25), it is expected that hoardings will have been
pushed back off the road and pavement.
The screens will remain around the affected buildings to allow for
future works.
Husband and wife Sinnarasa and Sutha Harihalan, who own James Store at
172 Croydon Road, told the News Shopper earlier this month that their
family business is being financially ruined by the works.
They were forced to temporarily close on June 12 due to their proximity
to the pub, even though their shop was not among those deemed
structurally unsafe.
A Bromley Council spokesperson said: “This safety related demolition
work has been an absolute last resort, given the advice of our
structural engineers about the building becoming more unstable.
“We know this has been an immensely difficult time for residents and
affected businesses who we have sought to support and we are grateful
for their understanding.
“It is now for the building owners again to take forward and resolve the
remaining issues.”
The local authority added that it would be looking to recover the costs
of the demolition work.
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