THE owner of an Aberystwyth seafront hotel that was gutted by a major fire has said the incident was “devastating” and thanked the emergency services who rescued 12 guests - including three children.

Emyr Davies, the owner of the Ty Belgrave House hotel on Marine Terrace that was engulfed in flames and badly damaged following the fire, said he was woken last Wednesday by a call from the emergency services “with the devastating news that Ty Belgrave was on fire”.

“My first concern was for my guests and those from the fire services and others who were caught up in this terrible event,” Mr Davies said. “I maintain hope that the unaccounted person will be found safe and well but I have no further information to pass on.

“I cannot express enough my thanks for the selfless efforts of all of the emergency services who have risked their own personal safety to help others.”

Mr Davies said that the fire alarm system worked as it should, with guests evacuated via the building’s fire escapes.

“The hotel has a full and operational fire alarm system that coincidentally was checked and approved only a few weeks ago and seems to have worked as designed and alerted the residents and others of the fire,” Mr Davies added.

“Furthermore it seems that those who were evacuated via the fire escapes thankfully sustained no serious injuries but my thoughts are with them and their families and friends for what must have been an extremely frightening experience. I am liaising with the residents to ensure any issues they have are resolved to the best of my ability."

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