Fire ‘ruins’ popular Milton Keynes LGBTQ+ nightclub with man arrested for arson

A man has been arrested on suspicion of arson after a fire engulfed a popular LGBTQ+ venue in Milton Keynes.

Firefighters tackled a blaze at the Pink Punters nightclub in Bletchley, Buckinghamshire in the early hours of this morning.

Revellers were evacuated from the building at around 2am and no-one was injured, according to local news reports.

Nearby roads were closed to traffic following the incident, with cordons likely to remain in place at the scene for some time.

A witness to the incident told local radio station MKFM the nightclub was ‘smouldering’ and had been ‘absolutely ruined’.

‘We got everybody out, everybody was evacuated quickly and nobody was hurt or injured which is the main thing’, they said.

A clip recorded of the aftermath showed the blaze had ripped off the entire roof of the Tudor revival building.

Police have arrested a 51-year-old man on suspicion of arson with intent to endanger life. He remains in custody.

Chief Superintendent Emma Baillie said: ‘This was a significant fire in which a large number of people had to be evacuated.  

‘Thankfully no one was injured and staff at the venue worked quickly and effectively to safely evacuate everyone.   

‘Fire crews and our officers remain on scene, and road closures are likely to remain in place for a significant amount of time.  

‘Our officers have arrested a man in connection with this incident. He remains in custody at this time, while we carry out ongoing enquiries.   

‘At this time it would be too early to comment on any particular motivation for this incident and we would respectfully ask for people not to speculate.’ 

A total of 12 fire crews attended the scene at the height of the fire, Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service said.

A spokesperson for the fire service said: ‘We are now scaling back the amount of fire engines in attendance of this incident. Firefighters will still remain on scene, working hard to dampen down and check the building for hot spots.’

Metro has contacted Pink Punters for comment.

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