Electric fault caused hotel fire

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An electrical fault was the cause of a blaze at the Grand Hotel in Brighton that forced hundreds of guests and staff to be evacuated from the hotel.

No-one was hurt but more than 400 had to leave after the fire broke out at the seafront hotel on Saturday evening.

East Sussex Fire and Rescue said an air conditioning unit that had been left on was the cause of the blaze.

In 1984, the Grand Hotel was the target of an assassination attempt on the then-prime minister, Margaret Thatcher.

'Heater left on'

Group commander Peter Cox, of East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service, said: "The cause of the fire was an electrical fault with a combined heating and ventilation appliance under the window in the room.

"The room was occupied but they were not in at the time of the fire. They left 30 minutes before the fire occurred. The heater unit was left on and running"

Only a small section of the hotel is still closed to the public following the blaze.

The fire started in the bedroom on the sixth floor at about 2000 GMT on Saturday, but was quickly put out. Staff were praised for their calmness.

Many hotel guests were able to return to their rooms at the weekend except where water damage had been caused during the operation to put out the flames.

'Business as usual'

Hotel general manager Jeremy Rata said: "No public areas of the hotel are affected and other than 14 bedrooms, which are temporarily off-line, it is business as usual.

"We are working closely with the fire and insurance teams to help them with their inquiries."

Five people were killed in an IRA bomb attack on the Grand Hotel during the 1984 Conservative Party Conference.

The prime minister escaped unscathed but Conservative MP, Sir Anthony Berry, was killed. The wife of the trade and industry secretary, Norman Tebbit, was paralysed.