Lightning strike at Aldridge Wetherspoon pub, from which guests were evacuated, caused “electrical disturbances”

Due to the weather incident, customers were evacuated from the Avion on Anchor Road on Saturday evening.

When lightning struck the back of the pub, causing electrical faults, emergency services were called to the scene.

A JD Wetherspoon spokesman confirmed that the location would remain closed until the following evening.

He said: “The Avion was evacuated and closed at around 7pm on Saturday due to a lightning strike at the rear of the premises.”

“Everyone was evacuated quickly and safely, no employees or customers were injured and there was no damage to the building.

“However, the lightning strike caused some electrical faults and subsequently led to the closure of the pub.

“The Avion reopened on Sunday at around 7.45pm.”

The fire service was called to the pub shortly after 7:05pm. When they arrived, they found there was smoke inside, which was due to an anti-theft device being triggered by the lightning strike.

A West Midlands Fire Service spokesman said: “Two fire engines and a 4×4 vehicle attended the scene, manned by 12 firefighters from Walsall and Bloxwich fire stations.”

“When the emergency services arrived at the scene of a pub, they found that smoke was rising from the building, which had been generated by an anti-theft device that had been triggered after lightning had struck the pub.

“Firefighters conducted a thorough inspection of the interior and exterior of the building and used a thermal imaging camera to confirm there was no fire.

“There were no injuries or casualties and everyone had already been evacuated before we arrived at the scene.

“The crews gave advice to site management before leaving the scene shortly after 7:45 p.m.”

A man who was in the pub at the time of the incident said he heard a “big bang”.

On Facebook, the customer wrote: “The Avion Aldridge, big bang, I think it was struck by lightning.”

“We were evacuated outside in the rain and two fire trucks showed up.”

The incident occurred as the region was hit by heavy rain over the weekend, with the Met Office issuing a yellow weather warning for both days.