Teen arrested on suspicion of hotel arson

The fire service said the blaze was found on the third floor of the former hotel

A teenager has been arrested on suspicion of arson after a fire at a derelict seafront hotel.

Firefighters were called to reports of a blaze on the third floor of the Ocean Hotel in Sandown, Isle of Wight, on the evening of 8 August.

Nobody was found inside the building when crews arrived and no injuries were reported.

Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary said an 18-year-old man arrested after the fire has been bailed until 18 November.

The derelict hotel has fallen into a state of disrepair

It was the second fire at the hotel in a week after firefighters also extinguished flames at the site on 5 August.

The owners of the hotel have previously been handed tidy-up enforcement orders by the council and police.

Island fires

In May 2021 a large fire, involving all four floors of the building, destroyed part of the abandoned hotel.

There have been a number of fires at derelict hotels on the Isle of Wight in recent times.

In June, two fires in a week broke out at the Cygnet Hotel in Sandown.

In July 2022, and in February this year, fires damaged the former Parkbury Hotel.

The former Grand Hotel was hit by fire in January 2022, and the Royal Cliff Hotel was destroyed in a suspected arson attack in 2014.