Three killed in hotel blaze 'were murdered' say police

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The blaze at the Penhallow Hotel in Newquay, Cornwall, claimed the lives of Joan Harper, 80, Peter Hughes, 43, and his mother Monica, 86.

Mr Hughes, from Cheslyn Hay, Staffordshire, was forced to jump from the third floor of the hotel after trying to save Mrs Hughes, although it is thought he died from inhaling smoke and toxic gas and not from the fall.

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Inferno: 80 guests escaped with their lives, but three were killed in the fire

More than 80 people escaped from the fire, which ripped through the building in the early hours of August 18 last year.

Detectives today said that painstaking inquiries by fire service investigators and independent experts had established that the fire was started deliberately.

The remains of the hotel after the deadly fire

Detective Chief Superintendent Chris Boarland told reporters at a news conference in Newquay that someone may be harbouring the culprit or culprits.

"This force can come to no other conclusion other than the fact that this fire was started deliberately," he said.

"The fire at the Penhallow Hotel is now officially a murder investigation."

"Somebody else may have knowledge of this, even if they were not involved." He added: "We need them to come forward."

He added that the fire was the worst the country had seen for 30 years and as so much evidence was destroyed the investigation was extremely complex.

He could not go into details about whether accelerants were used to start the blaze but did say it began on the ground floor and spread through the building quickly.

He said: "Whether it was one person or some people, I think that it is unlikely that someone has not spoken about this at some point.

"As far as a motive, I have no idea - that can only be in the mind of the person responsible."