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Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service is considering whether to prosecute the owners of the Penhallow Hotel in Newquay, O&C Holdsworth, according to a BBC report. The service is investigating the company under fire safety legislation, following a tragic blaze at the premises.
The high-profile incident on 18 August 2007 (see Fire Risk Management, September 2007, p.3) was dubbed Britain's worst hotel fire for 40 years and resulted in the deaths of three people, all from Staffordshire: school teacher Peter Hughes, 43; his mother Monica, 86; and Joan Harper, 80.
Cornwall Fire and Rescue said it could not make any comment on matters surrounding a prosecution for legal reasons because ‘the matter is on-going’. In response, O&C Holdsworth said that, following legal advice, the company cannot make a statement while any legal action was being considered.
More than 90 people escaped from the 54-bedroom hotel after the fire broke out. At the height of the incident, 120 firefighters were in attendance, supported by 14 major fire appliances, two aerial appliances, a command and control unit and an operational support vehicle. The hotel was completely destroyed in the blaze.
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