Thame hotel fire ‘suspicious’

THE POLICE are treating as suspicious, a fire that severely damaged the Essex House hotel, in Thame, on Sunday morning (02/03).
More than 40 firefighters were called to the burning hotel in Chinnor Road, Thame, at around 6.30am, where they found that the fire had spread from the second floor, to the first storey and the roof of the building.
Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue’s Group manager, Richard Bowley, who was on scene, said: “We had to use the hydraulic platform to tackle the fire from above as there was a risk of the building collapsing on top of us.
“Thankfully the property is detached so the fire didn’t affect any other buildings and no one had to be evacuated from their homes.”
Mr Bowley added: “There are reports of people being seen in the vicinity in the early hours of the morning and we are now working with Thames Valley Police to ascertain the cause.”

The hotel had been empty for the past two weeks ahead of its planned demolition to develop the site into two, two-story apartment blocks.

Anyone who may have seen anything or has any information is asked to call Thames Valley Police on 08458 505505 or speak anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.