'extremely sad day' as donkey stable lost in fire
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A fire this morning (Sunday, June 8) tore through a donkey stable in a Leicestershire village, completely destroying the building, along with saddles and other tack. Fortunately the three
donkeys were not in the building when the fire started shortly after 10am this morning. The stable was on land behind the Italian Greyhound in Great Glen, near Leicester, and had been
popular with local people. Peter Hockenhull bought the pub 12 years ago - then called the Pug and Greyhound - and kept the stable going after he sold the pub a few years ago. He said:
"It's an extremely sad day. The donkeys are for the children in the village. They come and feed and groom them and the church members take the donkeys for walks, as well. READ
MORE: BIGGEST EVER RIVERSIDE FESTIVAL BRINGS CROWDS TO THE CITY "We built the stables ourselves, adding a storage area for hay and a tack room. It's all gone. "It's
really heartbreaking and so many happy memories are gone. We'll now have to rebuild it. "Everything is gone. It breaks my heart." Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service crews
from Leicester and Wigston arrived and quickly put the fire out before it could spread to the pub. A fire service spokeswoman said the blaze, which destroyed the stable and about 30 metres
of wooden fencing, had been started by heat from a tractor in the stable. The Italian Greyhound, which is in London Road, was also badly affected by flooding in January this year.