Newcastle hotelier's bomb scare disaster

Newcastle's 143-bedroom Royal Station hotel has lost £15,000-£20,000 after a bomb scare last Saturday (5 August) meant it had to be evacuated for more than five hours, says its general manager.

The scare started at 2.32pm after terrorists phoned a warning using a recognised password to a local newspaper, saying that a bomb had been left at the railway station next to the hotel.

General manager Aran Hander said more than 650 guests and 45 staff were evacuated. They included two large wedding parties, which had to be moved into the function rooms of two nearby pubs.

The hotel picked up the drinks bill for both groups, which came to about £2,000 each.

Hander said one of the brides was so overcome by stress that she was led to an ambulance to recover. "The other wedding people were really in a bad state too," he added.

At one stage, police allowed two hotel managers to return to the empty hotel after it was discovered that a wedding guest had left vital medication in the fridge in her bedroom.

Trains and buses were halted as a result of the scare, which meant that several guests due to stay in the hotel that night cancelled their bookings. A large party due to eat at the hotel's restaurant also cancelled.

Hander said: "We thought the whole thing would take half-an-hour to an hour, but it just went on and on.

"Five hours was far too long. For a manager, that's probably one of the worst nightmares come true."

He added: "We're going to try claiming on our insurance, but we don't think we can."

by David Shrimpton