Major blaze at historic seafront hotel probed by fire investigators

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More than 50 firefighters battled to control the blaze at the historic Grand Hotel on the Brighton seafront last night.

The fire ripped through a bedroom on the sixth-floor of the building and more than 400 guests had to be evacuated to safety.

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Fire crews at the scene of the Grand Hotel fire in Brighton last night

This is the second time disaster has struck the hotel.

The Grand Hotel was bombed by the IRA on October 12, 1984 in a bid to kill then-prime minister Margaret Thatcher during the Tory Party conference.

Five people died in the explosion and the hotel was completely renovated afterwards.

Last night's fire began at 8pm and 10 fire engines where called to the luxury hotel.

Hotel general manager Jeremy Rata said: "The fire brigade are undertaking a full investigation and a small section of the hotel will be closed to the public until this is complete."

"We are working closely with the police and fire brigade to help them with their investigations."

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This photo taken in 1984 shows the damage at the Grand Hotel,following the IRA bomb blast

Stacey Simmons, 34, who witnessed last night's fire, said: "I saw thick smoke coming from the building and thought I was imagining it.

"With the history of the hotel and the IRA bombing in the 80s, your immediate reaction is to think that it is a terrorist-related incident.

"But obviously it just turned out to be something a little less dramatic."

Group commander Ian Alexander, of East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service, said the fire started in a sixth-floor bedroom.

It was initially thought to have ignited on a lower floor but Mr Alexander explained: "The extraction system was taking the smoke from the sixth floor and pumping it down."

He said the cause of the fire was under investigation and praised the Grand Hotel's evacuation procedure.

"The whole operation as far as we are concerned went very well," he added.

Janet Ridge, duty manager of the Metropole Hotel looked after guests who had been evacuated from the Grand Hotel and said they had been served tea, coffee and sandwiches.