Ken Dodd is heartbroken that a deliberate fire at Thingwall Hall in Knotty Ash has destroyed his plans to turn the listed building into a community asset.

Interviewed on the Linda Mc Dermot show on Radio Merseyside 6/5/ 04, a clearly upset Doddy hinted at 'dirty deeds' and 'people having their own agenda for the building and its surrounding land'.

As the Inland Revenue will know Doddy is a careful Christian with his poke, but in this instance he stood 100 per cent behind the local communities fight to save the building and land, which must have taken up valuable time and come at a personal cost.

However, one cloud lurks on the horizon. Part of the overall site at Thingwall Hall falls within Knowsleys planning authority, who will be an important player in the consideration of any plan that will now inevitably come in to build houses in this Conservation area

It is one of life’s mysteries that at a time when the Fire Service are pursuing a highly successful drive to cut down the number of fires, through prevention and outreach advice; yet another developers dream has been opened up after work of an arsonist.

Things like this seem to have a habit of cropping up where Knowsley are involved. Maybe this is just co-incidental, but Knowsley does sell itself as a developers dream with land giveaways and the pushing of plans through on the nod, especially when Round is around or Kaiser Keight is on his feet.

However, behind the comedy, is a shrewd and highly intelligent businessman, who has the interests of local people at heart. We wish Ken Dodd well in his pursuit of the villain/s who burnt down the building, and the Police in trying to catch the culprits.

The Kirkby Times will also watch with interest when the planning application wings its way to Knowsley