Faulty bedside lamp may have sparked Newquay hotel fire

A NEWQUAY hotel which caught fire on Friday may have started in a "faulty" bedside lamp, it has emerged.
Four fire engines - including one with an aerial ladder platform - were needed to tackle the blaze at the Eliot Hotel during the afternoon.
Firefighters from Newquay, Perranporth and St Columb raced to Edgcumbe Avenue following reports of smoke at the rear of the building at 4.30pm.
A hotel employee, who wished not to be named, said he believed the fire started in a first floor bedroom lamp which had been left on for six weeks while the room was empty.
He added that the hotel's kitchen porter called the fire service after he saw smoke coming from the building whilst walking his dog.
"It was all over quite quickly," he said.
"By the time I got in there the fire service had already put the fire out.
"It was a faulty bedside lamp I believe and they sealed off the door."
He said there was little damage and that the hotel would be open again for Christmas.
There were no guests in the hotel at the time, so no evacuation was necessary.
Crews donned specialist breathing equipment and used hosereels and covering jets to tackle the flames.
It took around two hours to make the scene safe, and an investigation into the cause of the blaze confirmed it as accidental ignition.
A Cornwall Council spokeswoman said investigations had confirmed that the fire was caused by "accidental ignition".