Whitbread Premier Inn near Banbury evacuated after serious fire

A Premier Inn in Oxfordshire has been evacuated after a fire started in an outside area, and affected two sections of the property.

All residents and staff in the 54-bedroom Banbury Premier Inn, and the nearby pub, the Wobbly Wheel, were safely evacuated as 50 firefighters from the surrounding Oxfordshire and Warwickshire fire services sought to quell the incident. All people were accounted for.

The emergency call was received just after 3pm yesterday, with reports suggesting that emergency staff had spent the night "dampening" down the premises following the fire.

It is not yet known exactly what sparked the blaze, but Warwickshire Fire and Rescue have confirmed that the electricity supply and a gas supply had been isolated as a precaution.

An investigation into the possible cause is underway.

Richard Prescott, spokesperson for Whitbread, Premier Inn's parent company, confirmed that a fire had started and that all guests and employees had been evacuated unharmed. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /?>

He added: "We have found alternative accommodation for our guests and would like to our apologise for any inconvenience that may have been caused. We are currently helping the fire service with their enquiries and therefore aren't able to make any further comment."

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