Fire rips through Albrighton's Lea Manor Hotel

A fire ripped through a former landmark hotel near Telford today.

More than 30 firefighters, from five fire stations, were called out shortly before 5.30am to the blaze at the Lea Manor Hotel, Albrighton.

Police diverted traffic around the area as fire crews used an aerial platform to reach the blaze in the roof of the single storey building.

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Fire officers said the situation was made more difficult as the fire was seated deep within the roof, meaning crews had to pull apart the roof before they could get to the blaze.

While they worked, other firefighters were continuing to damp down the building with hoses.

Traffic diversions were expected to remain in place while fire crews continued to damp down the fire.

Fire investigators were on the scene working to establish a cause of the blaze. It is the latest fire at the boarded-up hotel, which was a top nightspot during the 1960s and 70s. In February 2011, arsonists broke in and set light to bundles of paperwork being stored in the main office.

The hotel, in Holyhead Road, has been closed since 2007 and nothing of any value is still left on the site.

In 2010 travellers moved onto the site twice, just months after plans to turn the hotel into two luxury homes were withdrawn. In 2007, the site had a £1 million price tag but it has been on the market ever since.

Read more in today's Shropshire Star