The owner of one of Tendring's premier hotels today told how he was counting the cost of fire damage to the property.
Business as usual - The Kingscliff Hotel
But Mark Packford, owner of the Kingscliff Hotel, Kings Parade, Holland-on-Sea, emphasised it was business as usual and there was no need for anyone with bookings to worry.
He said: "We were very fortunate that the damage was mainly confined to the roof and one or two rooms.
"Thanks to the prompt arrival and actions of the firefighters, it was not any worse than that. We could easily have lost the whole roof and more."
Guests were evacuated following the blaze yesterday.
They were all ferried to the Travel Lodge at Weeley for the rest of the night.
One woman, who was on holiday from Barbados, was taken to Colchester General Hospital for treatment but released straight away.
"She suffers from allergies and it was felt it was best for her to be checked over, but she was fine," added Mr Packford, who has had the Kingscliff for the past two years.
Mr Packford said the fire appears to have been caused by an electrical fault in the roof space.
Published Tuesday June 29, 2004
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