Couple held over hotel room blaze
GUESTS ARE EVACUATED AS FIRE IS DISCOVERED IN BEDROOM
A COUPLE have been arrested after a blaze broke out at a Newcastle hotel.
Sleeping guests were woken in their beds at the Grainger Hotel on Westgate Road as a blaze broke out in a second floor room.
Residents staying there were evacuated just after 8am yesterday as the blaze took hold in a bedroom.
Firefighters were called to the scene and quickly extinguished the flames.
Damage was confined to the bedroom but the smell of smoke filled the air in the surrounding area.
As fire crews and police arrived, Westgate Road was closed at the junction with Brighton Grove and Prospect Place in Arthur’s Hill while firefighters worked at the scene.
Now Northumbria Police say the fire is being treated as suspicious and a man and a woman have since been arrested. They remain in police custody.
A police car and van remained at the scene yesterday morning as a forensic investigation took place inside the hotel.
Ellie Walker and George Thompson, from Middlesbrough, were staying at the hotel when the fire broke out.
They were visiting Newcastle for a night out over the Christmas period when it happened.
The pair joined other guests as they waited in the cold when they were told to immediately leave the hotel.
Ellie, 21, said: “We were woken by the smoke alarm and told to get out.
“They are trying to figure out how it happened.
“We were told to get out and had to wait outside for around an hour.
“The fire crew put it out and you could smell the smoke.
“We were eventually let back into the lobby and then back into our rooms when everything had finished.”
A police spokesman said: “Enquiries into the circumstances of the fire are currently ongoing.
“Anyone who has information about the cause of the fire is encouraged to contact police on 101 quoting log 270 27/12/18.