The management of Peckforton Castle in Cheshire, which last week suffered a serious fire affecting three floors, had been alerted to concerns over fire safety at the hotel just three weeks before the blaze.
A Fire safety consultant wrote to the hotel after staying there last month. Among his concerns were fire doors with hold open devices removed, poorly fitting fire doors, fire doors without smoke seals, cable penetrations not sealed, queries on the siting and/or absence of a number of smoke detectors, and concerns over the large number of candles being used.
Around 70 guests were evacuated from the building when the fire broke out just before 5.00am on Sunday 19 June. At its height 100 firefighters tacked the blaze, which took most of the day to bring under control. Around a quarter of the castle was damaged in the fire.
A man, believed to be a bridegroom of a wedding party staying at the hotel, has been charged with two counts of arson and is due to appear at Chester Crown Court on 26 July.
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