Festival forced to move events after hotel fire

David Nicholls, Mary Beard and Patrick Grant are set to attend the festival

A literary festival has been forced to relocate the majority of its events after a fire at a hotel.

The Stratford Literary Festival was due to hold a number of its dates at The Crowne Plaza in Stratford-upon-Avon between Wednesday and Sunday.

However, a fire on Monday evening saw 100 guests evacuated and damage to the property means the venue was no longer "usable", festival organisers said.

Those events have instead been moved to the Welcombe Hotel on Warwick Road.

More than 100 guests were evacuated after a fire at The Crowne Plaza hotel

The line-up for the festival, now in its 17th year, includes TV historian Mary Beard, bestselling author David Nicholls and Great British Sewing Bee judge Patrick Grant.

Radio presenter James O'Brien will also appear, along with newspaper columnists Will Hutton, Daniel Finkelstein and Polly Toynbee.