Cherished plant shop Rose Clover in Southsea to remain closed following fire

On April 27 a fire broke out on the second floor of a terraced property in Elm Grove but it quickly consumed the roof. Police closed the road off whilst firefighters dealt with the fire with the crew needing to use 3 hose reels and 2 jets in order to put it out. Crew members stayed on the site to dampen any remaining hot spots and returned to the site the next morning following concerns it had reignited.

As a result of the fire, Rose Clover, which sits directly beneath the flat, closed its doors due to water damage. The plant shop, which is owned by Liz Penman, has been running for the past five years and was an extremely popular store. On May 1, an update on Rose Clover’s Instagram was published. It said: “Nobody was hurt (thank goodness) but the building has no roof and my shop has been completely flooded with water from the hoses. Needless to say we won’t be open for a while and our online business has to temporarily close because we cannot access any of our stock.”

The The Steam Rüme Coffee House & Kitchen has also had to close due to damage as a result of the damage and a fundraise has helped raised over £2,000 to get it back up and running as soon as possible. There is currently scaffolding at the site of the fire and the doors to Rose Clover has been boarded up.

The shop issued an update at the end of May saying: “Rose Clover will not be reopening on Elm Grove due to the extensive damage caused by the fire. It’s been an emotional time to see my shop of 5yrs in such a bad way.

“Rose Clover shop might be gone and our website is temporarily shut but the business will be back after I sort out this mess.”

To be updated on Rose Clover, click here.