London hotel guests evacuated as fire rips through spa
Guests were evacuated from hotels in southwest London hotel last night when a fire ripped through the spa of the Richmond Harbour Hotel & Spa close to Richmond Park.
About 100 firefighters were called to tackle the blaze, which took several hours to bring under control.
Richmond Harbour Hotel said this morning that the fire had caused extensive roof damage. "The cause of the fire is not yet known, but maintenance work was being carried out on the roof by external contractors," it said in a tweet.
"Fortunately, due to the efforts of the emergency services, the damage was largely contained to the spa, and we are extremely grateful."
It said staff had responded professionally and evacuated everyone and there were no injuries. It added: "Harbour has created a world class spa in Richmond and work will commence imminently to restore it.
"We would like to thank everyone involved in containing the incident and apologise for any inconvenience caused to our friends in Richmond."
Richmond Hill Hotel posted a tweet today saying that while the leisure centre at the Harbour Hotel had been severely damaged, Richmond Hill Hotel was undamaged.
It added: "We are welcoming guests back to retrieve their belongings."
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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