GRAND HOTEL: More information about the ongoing incident at Scarborough landmark

The Grand Hotel and surrounding buildings have been evacuated as a precautionary measure and the area surrounding the hotel, including St Nicholas Cliff and the Spa Bridge, has been cordoned off to allow emergency service to attend.

Members of the public have been advised to avoid the area.

Steve Pratt, General Manager of the nearby Palm Court Hotel, said: “ We had to empty the hotel this morning. We had minimal guests in it because obviously a lot had checked out.

“There was a dozen or so in the lounge having coffee and light bites.

“Police came in and just said for safety reasons they should let us all know that we needed to evacuate down as far as our car park and we just had to let them all go.

“This was between 10.30 and 11 and then I’ve been speaking with the police about our staff and let them go home.

“We’ve contacted all our arrivals and told them to slow down and just make their way slowly and get coffee when they come.”

Palm Court Head of House, Christina Mclean, said: “We just got evacuated from our workplace and told it could be up to 8-10 hours before it’s all solved.”

“So we got sent home.”