A Grade II-listed hotel and wedding venue had to be evacuated last night after fire broke out in the roof.
Thornton Manor in Wirral, Cheshire, hosted Brexit talks between Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Ireland’s Taoiseach Leo Varadkar in October 2019.
Guests at the historic venue were woken up in the early hours of the morning to tell them they needed to leave as quickly as possible.
Firefighters were called shortly after 9pm to the scene on Manor Road, Thornton Hough.
The hotel was evacuated and a fire involving a boiler was extinguished before the fire service arrived.
When they inspected the building, however, fire was also detected in the roof.
Crews battled through the night in what Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service called a ‘challenging incident’.
One wedding goer said he and his wife were woken at 1.30am by firefighters banging on their door telling them to get out as quickly as possible as the building was on fire.
He said: ‘We were asleep but they hammered on the door for us to get out.
‘They were very professional and seemed as if they had the scene under control.
‘But there’s still smoke billowing out of the house – it wouldn’t surprise me if they’re here for a day or two.’
Another guest said: ‘The flames had taken over the whole house.
‘We could see them flames on the roof and they were about 10 feet high.
‘It’s died down this morning but you can still see smoke billowing.
‘We’re just waiting to hear what can happen to see if we can get in and get our keys so we can go home.’
Firefighters dealt with two main seats of fire – both of which have now been put out.
A spokesman for Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service said: ‘Firefighting has continued throughout the night at this 3 storey, grade 2 listed building approximately 2000 square metres, in what has been a challenging incident.
‘Firefighters have been dealing with two main seats of fire.
‘Emergency Services at scene alongside us are Cheshire Fire & Rescue Service, North West Ambulance Service and Merseyside Police – we would like to thank our blue light colleagues for supporting our response.
‘We would also like to thank the Salvation Army for their attendance and providing hot meals to those on site.
‘United Utilities, the Environmental Agency and Wirral Council have all been advised of the scale of this ongoing incident.
‘Multi agency meetings have taken place at regular intervals throughout the early hours of this morning and a full evacuation of the property has been carried out with a comprehensive search audit completed.
‘A structural engineer has been requested with a full structural survey taking place shortly after, as a result, internal firefighting has ceased and safety cordens have been advised and put in place on site.’
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