'Hotel fire cost me home, job and everything I owned'

Fire broke out in the roof of the Queens Hotel on a Saturday morning in July

The licensee of a hotel which was destroyed by a fire says she lost everything to the blaze in just a few hours.

Angi Clinton used to run the Queens Hotel in Blaenau Ffestiniog, Gwynedd, but has now lost her home, her possessions and her job.

The pub company which owned it at the time said it had worked to support her, but was left with no choice but to sell the building to an investor.

Many people in Blaenau Ffestiniog are calling for the Queens Hotel to be rebuilt and reopened, so it can be a hub for the community once again.

The exact cause of the fire is still unknown, but police say it was not started deliberately

Firefighters were called when flames were spotted in the roof of the Queens Hotel about 11:09 BST on Saturday 5 July.

No-one was hurt in the fire, but the building was badly damaged, and the roof and upper floor completely destroyed.

The exact cause of the fire is still unknown, but police say it was not started deliberately.

Ms Clinton said she was away from Blaenau Ffestiniog at the time: "I had a phone call from my daughter, really distressed, shouting 'the Queens is on fire, the Queens is on fire'.

"My first thought was to make sure that everyone was OK, but since then it almost feels like it's not real, it's a bad dream and you're going to wake up from it," she said.

"I've lost everything. The only thing I didn't lose was my car and the clothes I was wearing at the time.

"Everything I own: personal stuff, photographs from the past and childhood has all gone.

"Two grown up children lived with me, they've lost everything too. We lost our jobs, our home and our dream all in one day."

Angi Clinton says she lost everything in the fire at the Queens Hotel

Ms Clinton is still living in temporary accommodation, but said she had no hope of returning to the building she used to call home.

A few weeks after the fire, she was told the owners, Admiral Taverns, had sold the building.

Plaid Cymru MP Liz Saville Roberts, whose constituency includes Blaenau Ffestiniog said: "Admiral Taverns have shown a disturbing lack of duty of care towards Angi Clinton and her staff.

"Their actions have undermined trust and disregarded the human impact of their business decisions."

She said the hotel was a "vital part" of the town's hospitality sector and said the community deserved to know who owned the hotel.

She urged the new owners to consider restoring the building as a catering and hospitality venue.

There were flames shooting through the roof of the Queens Hotel after the fire broke out in the attic

BBC Wales was given the name of a company which may now own the Queens Hotel, but its directors did not reply to a letter asking them to confirm if they had any plans for the building.

Admiral Taverns said: "We can confirm that the freehold of the Queens Hotel, Blaenau Ffestiniog, has been sold to an experienced investor in public houses of this nature.

"Following a thorough review of our options after the fire in July, it became clear that reinvestment in the site by Admiral Taverns was not sustainable, and the sale of the property represented the most appropriate way forward.

"Throughout this difficult period, we have worked closely with the licensee to provide support and have liaised with the fire service and structural engineers to ensure the site remains safe."