Hotel Company Fined £40,000

The owners of a hotel in Bideford have been ordered to pay £40,000 plus £10,000 in legal costs for breaking safety rules after guests were trapped by a blaze and rescued from its roof last year.

A court heard the company running the Tantons Hotel in Bideford had ignored recommendations in fire safety reports. The emergency services say it was only their swift action that ensured no one was killed.

Richard Lawrence reports:

A hotel company has been fined £40,000 and asked to pay £10,000 in legal costs for breaking safety rules after guests were trapped by a blaze and rescued from its roof.

The Tantons Hotel in Bideford caught on fire in May last year.