Pair arrested over hotel death fire

12 April 2012

Two people have been arrested in connection with one of Britain's worst hotel fires, police have said.

The blaze at the Penhallow Hotel in Newquay, Cornwall, last summer claimed the lives of Joan Harper, 80, Peter Hughes, 43, and his mother, Monica, 86.

A police spokesman said a 42-year-old man and a 36-year-old woman were arrested on Tuesday and both are in custody at Newquay police station.

Around 90 people escaped from the fire as it ripped through the building in the early hours of Saturday, August 18.

Police described it as the worst the country had seen in 30 years.

A murder investigation was announced by detectives who said they believed the blaze was started deliberately.

Mr Hughes, from Staffordshire, was forced to jump from the third floor of the hotel after trying to save his mother.

Police have already arrested a 44-year-old man, who is on bail until June 17, and a 21-year-old man, who was bailed to June 10.

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