Folkestone council evacuates nearby residents after Grand Burstin hotel fire

Speaking to the BBC, John Dighton, who was evacuated from Pavilion Court, said that he was told to leave his flat at about 19:00 on Saturday.

The 50-year-old said: “We don’t know how long we will be out for but we have grabbed stuff for a couple of days.

“The worst thing is the not knowing. We are at a hotel over the road from the flats.”

Ross Honeycomb, 39, was staying at the hotel with his family and told the BBC on Saturday how they were woken by fire alarms at about 01:00.

He said: “I thought I was dreaming, it was horrifying.

“We looked out and there was smoke billowing from the underground car park. Later we started hearing explosions.”

Kevin Crawford, 91, and his wife Kathleen, 82, said they had booked in for a two-week stay at the hotel.

The couple, from London, told the BBC that they were in their room on the sixth floor when they heard a fire alarm.

“We saw the fire but we thought the fire brigade had it under control,” said Kevin.

“We managed to sleep through it. At the time, we didn’t realise how bad the fire was.”

The council’s chief executive, Susan Priest, said on Saturday: “The extent of support of organisations, including Three Hills, Morrisons and the Salvation Army, has been amazing and helped to ensure that visitors and residents were looked after, supported and had food and hot drinks.

“This was an extremely difficult day, firstly for the hotel guests and this evening for our residents who have had to move out of their homes.”