'People joked it was like Fawlty Towers but it was much worse than that': Owner of hotel-turned-hovel with caved-in ceilings, disabled smoke alarms and chained-up fire exits is jailed

Peter Metcalf, 51, ran Blackpool's New Kimberley Hotel for seven years



Venue was once described as 'thriving, grand estate hotel' with ballroom

But under his ownership, the hotel was transformed into a 'squalid' hovel

Hazards included homemade electrics, mouldy walls and caved-in ceilings



Also had single pole holding up roof, while rooms were littered with debris

Now, Metcalf has been jailed for 18 months for 15 fire and safety breaches

Jailed: Peter Metcalf has been jailed after turning his guesthouse into a 'death trap' with caved-in ceilings, disabled smoke alarms and chained-up fire exits

A hotel owner has been jailed after turning his guest house into a 'death trap' with caved-in ceilings, disabled smoke alarms and chained-up fire exits.

Peter Metcalf, 51, spent seven years running the 90-room New Kimberley Hotel in Blackpool, Lancashire.

The venue was once described as a 'thriving, grand estate hotel' with its own ballroom.



But under his ownership, it was transformed into a 'squalid' hovel - with faulty electrics, no water supply in half the building and just a single pole holding up the roof.



It also had mouldy walls, smashed windows and rooms filled with debris, while chairs and microwaves littered the hostel's narrow hallways.

One guest, who did not wish to be named, said: 'People have joked it was like Fawlty Towers, but it was much worse than that.'



Now, Metcalf has been jailed for 18 months after being found guilty of 15 breaches of fire and safety regulations under the Regulation Reform Fire Safety Order 2005 at Preston Crown Court.



Sentencing Metcalf, Judge Anthony Russell QC told him he had shown a 'callous disregard for the safety of people living in this premises for which you were responsible'.

He added: 'They were appalling conditions. This is an exceptionally bad example of breaches of this regard.'

Metcalf, who transformed the hotel into a 'multi-occupancy' hostel, where he rented out rooms by the week, first sparked outrage when he hosted three BNP conferences at the premises in 2006.

Two years later, he was fined for 20 food hygiene offences, and the following year, Blackpool Council revoked his alcohol and entertainment licence due to ‘significant and long standing fire and health and safety concerns’.

Damaged: The 51-year-old spent seven years running the New Kimberley Hotel in Blackpool, Lancashire. The venue was once described as a 'thriving, grand estate hotel' with its own ballroom. Above, a caved-in ceiling

Chained up: But under Metcalf's ownership,the hotel was transformed into a 'squalid' hovel - with faulty electrics, no water supply in half the building, disabled smoke alarms and chained-up fire exits (pictured) Squalid: It also had mouldy walls and smashed windows, while its rooms were filled with debris and plastering

Arrest: Metcalf (pictured with police) has been jailed for 18 months after being found guilty of 15 breaches of fire and safety regulations under the Regulation Reform Fire Safety Order 2005 at Preston Crown Court

But each time council officials or health inspectors called, Metcalf was aggressive and threatened legal action against them, the court heard.

Judge Russell told Metcalf: 'Attempts to speak t o you had been made but you had been obstructive and threatened legal action.

'It appears your attitude was that people were living there for free and they were grown adults and if they did not know the situation that was their problem.'

In March last year, Metcalf's tenure at the hotel-turned-hostel ended when firefighters raided the premises after water board officials discovered there were people still staying at the propery.

Hotel: One guest, who did not wish to be named, branded the hostel 'like Fawlty Towers, but much worse'

Contrast: Kimberley Hotel is pictured in the 1960s, when it was a 'thriving, grand estate hotel' with a ballroom

Bleak: The hotel-turned-hostel has now been boarded up following Metcalf's arrest and subsequent jail term

Four tenants and a dog were found inside the building, including one man who had been living in the property for three years. They were each paying £50 a week in rent, the court heard.



Firefighters also uncovered a string of safety hazards, including an electrical supply illegally fitted with homemade fuses, 20 smoke alarms disabled and evidence that squatters had used one of the rooms.



Shockingly, fire exits had also been chained-up or blocked off at the property- despite at least one having cooking gas and a large cylinders of petrol next to it.

Disabled: This is one of the 20 smoke alarms that Metcalf disabled and left dangling from the ceiling

Subsequent inquiries revealed Metcalf had no evacuation plan for the 90-room hostel.



Joseph Hart, prosecuting, said: 'There was not one fire exit that had not been nailed shut, chained shut or blocked with broken beds.

'The front door, the only solitary exit had by it half empty can of cooking gas. This near a wood lattice framework. The only way out had a potential explosive by it.'

Mr Hart said the four residents, who rented rooms on the first floor, would have encountered a series of 'death traps' should they have needed to escape.

'Coming out of room 128, if they turned to their right to escape they would see a door nailed shut. Turning left is the way to the broken beds,' he said.



'The only way to get out is to run along the corridor to the insecure stairs, passed the electrical insulation, passed the gas canisters at the front door. The other fire escape on the ground floor was, in fact, chained shut.

'The electricity circuit had been bypassed in an illegal and dangerous way. Not only was it unprotected from fire but a fire risk in itself.'

He added: 'Mr Metcalf was asked to voluntarily cooperate with the fire service to discuss the situation.

'But he threatened legal action against the fire officers delivering to them what looked like homemade writs.

'In the course of his communication with them, he did indicate that the people who lived there were grown adults and should know if they are safe or not and if not they should leave.

Dangerous: Shockingly, the premises had just one single pole holding up the roof, Preston Crown Court heard

Faulty electrics: Sentencing Metcalf, Judge Anthony Russell QC told him he had shown a 'callous disregard for the safety of people living in this premises for which you were responsible'. Above, the hotel's electrical supply

Homemade: Metcalf, who ran the hotel as a 'multi-occupancy' hostel, where he rented out rooms by the week, first sparked outrage when he hosted three BNP conferences at the hotel in 2006. Above, homemade fuses

'He took rent from people to live effectively in squalor, systematically failing to consider fire safety and essentially making a virtue out of the fact that they were adults and it was nothing to do with him.

'It was a place where some of the public rooms were just filled with rubbish.'

Metcalf was handed a suspended jail term in 2010 after being convicted of 13 food hygiene charges relating to his kitchen.

Health inspectors had found the work surfaces and equipment caked with mould and grime, while food had been stored dangerously.



Fined: Metcalf, pictured with police and council officers at the Blackpool hotel, has also been fined £5,243

Raid: The raid was carried out by enforcement officers from Blackpool Council and Lancashire Fire Service

Action: Council officers inspect the hostel (left), where mattress frames were found blocking fire doors (right)

