High winds hamper fire crews tackling Brighton hotel blaze

High winds have been hampering firefighters tackling a blaze at a hotel in Brighton, the East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service has said.

They said nobody has been injured, but “difficult conditions” have seen them evacuate people from buildings near the Royal Albion Hotel.

The Old Steine and part of Kings Road have been closed with people advised to stay away from the area due to “significant smoke” which was being made worse by wind.

Brighton & Hove City Council opened a rest centre to provide support for people evacuated from their homes.

Fifteen appliances have been at the scene which was first reported just before 5.30pm on Saturday.

At 5am on Sunday, the fire service said it was “scaling back operations” but six appliances and two aerial ladder platforms remain on the scene.

Councillor Bella Sankey, leader of the council, said: “These are very sad scenes in our city this evening.

“On behalf of the city council I want to give my thanks to the emergency services for attending the fire at the historic Royal Albion Hotel in the heart of our city.

“We urge everyone to continue following advice from emergency services and to please keep away from the area.”

The 219-bedroom regency-style hotel, which overlooks Brighton Pier, was built in 1826. It is run by Britannia Hotels.

Part of the building was Grade II* listed by English Heritage and suffered a previous fire in November 1998.