Parts of a new roof for Salford Lads Club have been stolen, putting the planned £250,000 roof renovation on hold. Work was set to begin on the building this week as part of a £1million restoration project, but when builders arrived they discovered that the lead and guttering had been pinched.
By the way, those of you wondering why the theft of items from the roof of Salford Lads Club makes it into a music industry ebulletin, you clearly weren't paying attention in the mid-eighties, or indeed, in more recent reports that we might have run referring to the building, which, fact fans, featured on the cover artwork of The Smiths' 'The Queen Is Dead', and has since become a bit iconic.
A spokesman said: "We are devastated by this criminal act. The thieves have basically stolen from Ordsall kids' futures. We were just about to start work on the roof and all the scaffolding had just been put up. When the roofers arrived on site on Tuesday they thought they could hear a tap running inside, but it was actually rain water pouring through the roof."