Bar owners apologise after promoting hot wings in front of burning bank
Owners of The Phantom bar held a sign which read 'nothing is hotter than our wings' outside the blaze.
A Loughborough bar which used a fire at the local HSBC bank to advertise its hot wings has apologised for the stunt.
While firefighters tackled the blaze in the town centre on Wednesday, an employee of the nearby Phantom pub took the opportunity to snatch a photo opportunity, posing in front of the fire with a sign advertising hot wings.
The bar, which is part of the Stonegate Group, divided opinion after it posted the photo to its Facebook page and declared there was ‘nothing hotter than our wings.’
Many believed the post, which has since been deleted, was in poor taste, while others believed it was hilarious, telling the complainers to ‘get a life’.
Yet despite the fierce back-and-forth taking place in the comment section, the bar soon deleted the image and apologised for the post.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the Phantom said: ‘We apologise for the social media post that was published regarding a promotion at the pub, given the circumstances taking place in the town.
‘No offence was intended and it was quickly removed.’
No people were injured during the fire at the HSBC bank. The extent of the damage remains unclear, but aerial footage captured by the Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service earlier on Thursday March 16 showed much of the building’s roof had been destroyed.
There was also visible damage to the building’s second floor.
Multiple fire crews were called to the scene from all around Leicestershire to tackle the blaze, while the town centre was evacuated.
An investigation is now in place to determine why the bank went up in flames, with fire crews announcing they would be on site to monitor the situation for the ‘foreseeable future’.
On Thursday, councillor Jonathan Morgan, leader of Charnwood Borough Council, said officials could not yet access the town hall.
‘This was a significant fire, but importantly no-one has been hurt,’ he said.
‘I would like to thank Leicestershire Fire and Rescue for their amazing response and preventing this fire from being even more devastating.
‘We have not yet been able to access Loughborough Town Hall so it is difficult to assess the damage but we will update residents as soon as we can.’
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