Fire at The George Hotel in Stamford

Four fire crews were called to The George Hotel in Stamford last night (Saturday, August 11) after a kitchen fire.

The call came in at 8.20pm, according to Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue. A spokesman for the hotel in High Street St Martin's said it was an incident due to "equipment failure" in the main kitchen.

Staff and guests were evacuated from the hotel as a matter of safety but they were allowed back in at 10pm and the hotel is open as usual today.

Light damage was caused to kitchen utensils and moderate damage to the kitchen. It was extinguished by using one hose reel and two breathing apparatus.

The cause was a blowtorch accidentally left on a hotplate.

South Kesteven District Council's deputy leader Kelham Cooke said in a Tweet that the council was investigating the incident.

He said his thoughts were with staff injured.

But a spokesman for The George Hotel refused to comment on staff being injured.