Craig Douglas before the Bree Louise pub was forced to close

A FORMER landlord who was forced to leave Camden after his pub was seized and unnecessarily demolished to make way for the HS2 railway has died aged 66.

Craig Douglas moved his family out of the popular Bree Louise in Cobourg Street, Euston, to the south coast after the land was compulsorily purchased by the government in 2018. He spent six years battling for full compensation over the scandal – a period of turmoil that he openly spoke about having a significant impact on his physical and mental health.

Jo Hurford, a long-standing member of the Euston Stop HS2 group, said: “Without the terrible stress HS2 caused him taking away his beloved pub and then making him have a multi-year fight to be paid for it that he would still be behind the bar happy and healthy.”

Jeff Travers, another long-standing opponent of HS2, recalled that Mr Douglas had a heart attack on the way to the court hearing about compensation, adding: “He told me the compensation enabled him to buy a house in Bournemouth and go on a cruise. He rang me to tell me that a flutter in the onboard casino enabled him to increase his compensation fund.”

Mr Douglas was among hundreds of people in Camden who tried to stop HS2 bulldozing dozens of businesses and homes in and around Euston by “petitioning” the government through parliamentary select committees.

The pub which he ran and lived-in with his wife Karen and son George was formerly the Jolly Gardeners. It was re-named after the couple’s daughter Bree, who died aged 12 weeks. The celebrated pub won several awards during his tenure and was known for its support for small independent breweries.

The Bree Louise pub was bulldozed after HS2 chief said they needed the land

In 2023 it emerged the land the pub was on was not even required for the new Euston HS2 terminus, due to a mix-up about founding stones, but had been seized and bulldozed anyway.

At that time, Mr Douglas told the New Journal: “It’s sickening, absolutely sickening. We have been through the mill. We have moved out of London because we couldn’t afford to live there anymore.

“I’m 64 next birthday, you know. You have got to ask yourself, do you want to start again at this age.”

Mr Douglas had been offered £1.153m compensation for losses but had to go to tribunal to get his full claim of around £4.2m. HS2 is still nowhere near being built.

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