Update on the Royal Albion Hotel fire – 18 July

The Royal Albion Hotel has suffered significant damage following a fire that started on Saturday. The priority now is to make sure the structure is safe.

East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service attended the site overnight on Monday to put out some smaller fires and reduce the chance of further reignition.

They will continue to make regular visits overnight on Tuesday to check on the structure. Security will also remain on site throughout.

These fires have caused a delay to the demolition of the damaged part of the hotel. This is now expected to start on Wednesday and is likely to take 2 to 3 weeks,

Barriers have been placed around the hotel to ensure a safe perimeter and our on-site contractor will continually assess the risk.

We’re asking people to continue to avoid the area and road diversions remain in place.

If residents or businesses in the area notice any dust or smoke in the air, please keep windows and doors closed.

If anyone sees excessive smoke or flames coming from the building, please contact the fire service on 999.

Council Leader, Councillor Bella Sankey said: “As we move from an emergency response to a recovery phase, our priority is to make sure the area is safe.

“This does mean there will continue to be significant disruption to the area.

“Thank you to our residents, visitors and businesses for their patience and understanding while this important work takes place.”

Demolition and building heritage

To ensure the building is structurally safe, demolition of the damaged section of the building is required.

Our Building Control Team are on site and contractors are expected to begin the demolition on Wednesday. We’re anticipating the demolition will take 2 to 3 weeks to complete.

Council Leader Bella Sankey about the heritage of the building:

“The demolition of part of the Royal Albion Hotel has been delayed until tomorrow on health and safety grounds.

“We of course want to save as much of this iconic, heritage building as possible and have tasked our contractors to do this.

“As many original features as possible will be set aside for reuse or for moulds / copying.

“A 3D scan of the whole exterior of the building has been carried out, and we will be taking photos regularly to hopefully allow us to replicate the original features.

“We are in contact with Historic England and will continue to work closely with them.”

Access and diversions

Part of Kings Road (A259) between the Old Steine roundabout and East Street, as well as most of Pool Valley, has been fenced off due to the risk of falling debris during the demolition process. We expect Pool Valley to remain closed for the next 3 weeks.

Unfortunately, the properties directly behind the Royal Albion Hotel will also remain inaccessible. Anyone affected by this has been contacted and given more information or support.

Residents displaced by the fire can contact our housing team by emailing housing.advice@brighton-hove.gov.uk or calling 01273 294 400 (option 1).

Businesses outside of this exclusion zone can reopen but we would advise that they carry out their own risk assessments to ensure the safety of their staff and customers.

We are grateful to residents and visitors for their ongoing patience and understanding.

Health and safety

Multi-agency meetings have taken place between council teams and the UK Health Security Agency on the risk to public health

Alistair Hill, Director of Public Health’s advice is:

“We understand there are health concerns about asbestos. I would like to reassure people that the risks to health are low.

“Asbestos is known to be in the textured ceiling coatings used in the building but there is unlikely to be any significant risk of exposure to asbestos following this fire.

“The area around the hotel will remain closed off to the public and we do not believe that any asbestos has fallen outside this area.

“Our on-site contractor who will be responsible for demolishing the damaged parts of the hotel will be continually assessing the risk and security will remain on site at all times.

“While work is ongoing, if residents or businesses in the area notice any smoke or dust in the air please keep windows and doors closed.”

Read the latest information from East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service.