A derelict pottery factory in Stoke-on-Trent looks set to be demolished following a fire in April.

The grade II-listed former Wade Ceramics building was set alight on 27 April and Westport Road has been shut to traffic ever since due to safety concerns.

Miller Homes, which owns the site, has been working to find a way of making it safe and communicating with Stoke-on-Trent City Council so the road can be reopened.

Now, council leader Jane Ashworth says the local authority is expecting the land owner to confirm tomorrow (9 July) that the building needs to be demolished.

Cllr Ashworth told Stoke Nub News: "On Wednesday [9 July] we are expecting the next letter from them confirming their legal department agrees the building needs to come down and we then need to make sure there is a date set in the very near future.

"It is a listed building, not a garden shed, we just can't go and knock it down because we feel like it. Not only do you need to have safety reasons, which we do and why the road is shut, but also you have to be certain that you couldn't reasonably restore it.

"And that is not us, that's Historic England - it's them who the owners have got in the back of their mind.

"We will have a better idea on Wednesday [9 July] of the date it will be knocked down by.

The old Wade Ceramics building was set on fire in April. (Nub News)

"The council would be able to knock it down under safety grounds and recharge but the problem is that if we do that, then the owners will have every right to take us to court.

"If an owner has done a runner it is much easier as we can say they didn't communicate with us or there is no forwarding address but that is not the situation here - they are behaving responsibly so we wouldn't be able to do it and get our money back as every judge in the world would tell us we were unreasonable."

A spokesperson for Miller Homes said: "The safety of our employees, customers and the wider community is always our main concern and our priority following the fire on Westport Road has been to ensure that the site is safe and secure.

"We are fully co-operating with the relevant authorities to determine the most appropriate permanent solution for making the site safe so that the road can be reopened as soon as it is safe to do so."