DAMAGE to a hotel ravaged by fire has proved more extensive than first thought. Flames spread into the wall and ceiling voids of the Imperial Swallow Hotel, on Jesmond Road, Newcastle, causing vast amounts of hidden damage. It is now thought the hotel will not be fully up and running for at least two months. The cost of the damage is expected to be massive, although the exact figure will not be known for a couple of weeks. Operations director of Swallow hotels, Peter Bech, said: “We have closed the hotel and the hotel’s website until the end of February. “Fifty-two rooms in the west wing are completely unaffected by the fire, so we can offer a limited service for guests staying in that section. “From what I’ve seen of the damage, it’s quite extensive so it’s going to be weeks and weeks before we can get things up and running properly again. “We can still not be sure how much damage has been done in respect to cost. We’ve got various surveyors arriving who will look at the damage more closely, but I think we’re a couple of weeks away from knowing that.” The fire started at 5.30am last Thursday and took firefighters more than three hours to completely put out, causing mass traffic chaos to Tyneside’s commuters. It is thought to have started from faulty electrics in the air conditioning system in the hotel’s kitchen but quickly spread to the restaurant, bar and first-floor bedrooms. Group leader Ian Robertson said: “Obviously it is being treated as an accidental fire but we have a few lines of inquiry to go down. “There is nothing to suggest there are any suspicious circumstances, but it will be quite a while until we determine a cause. “A fault in the electrics in the air conditioning is one of the lines of inquiry we are looking into, but because the fire spread to within the ceiling and wall voids it is harder to determine a cause. “There is an extensive amount of damage due to how the fire spread. There is damage which is hidden from view where the fire got into the roof voids. “We had the fire under control at an early stage but to fully determine that the fire was surrounded and that all persons were accounted for, it took a few hours.” Investigations continue. | 
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