AN EAST Lancashire man who was manager of the Newquay hotel which burnt down, killing three guests, has spoken of his trauma.

Andy Woollam lived in Blackburn and Great Harwood before taking up his role at the Penhallow Hotel five and a half years ago.

When the blaze broke out 41-year-old Mr Woollam was in a nearby staff flat with his 13-year-old son, who lives in Oswaldtwistle with his mother but who was on holiday with him.

Mr Woollam has spoken of his horror at seeing his hotel burn to the ground and how he tried to enter the building to help fleeing guests, but was held back by police.

He said that the fire had left him "absolutely traumatised".

He said: "When I arrived at the hotel I could not believe what I was seeing - it was all flames and smoke."

The hotel manager said he has hardly slept since the blaze in the early hours of Saturday morning.

He said: "I'm absolutely distraught as are all of the staff. It was incredibly traumatic and I'm still traumatised."

Mr Woollam said that he wanted to go into the burning hotel, but the police would not let him. But he said he was still able to help guests being evacuated.

He said: "The evacuation of the guests was superb, you couldn't ask for any better staff. They did a fantastic job getting people out of the building.

"I've been back to the scene of the hotel and it is an horrific sight, I can't believe what's happened."

He said he had no idea how the fire started and added: "The hotel was in optimum condition as regards fire regulations."

One person, a 43-year-old man believed to be from the Midlands, has been confirmed dead after jumping from a second floor window to escape the flames.

Two other people who have been missing since the blaze are now presumed dead by police.

Most of the 80 holidaymakers at the hotel were on a break booked through Robinsons Holidays, based in Great Harwood.

Mr Woollam was born and bred in the Shear Brow area of Blackburn, and went to Pleckgate High School.

After school he worked as long distance lorry driver, and then worked for 18 months as coach driver for Robinson's Holidays which included doing tours to the Penhallow Hotel.

Five and half years ago he started work as a junior manager at the Penhallow, before being made general manager four and a half years ago.

As well as living in Shear Brow he lived in a house in Blackburn Road, Great Harwood, before he moved Newquay.

Eight other people from East Lancashire were in the seaside hotel at the time of the blaze.

Susan Goodlad and her family from Darwen as well as Sam and Irene Moore from Church were able to escape the fire without injury.

David Lord, a director at Robinsons, said that all guests who booked through the firm received free travel insurance as part of their purchase and would therefore be compensated for their losses.

He said: "We are currently dealing with the insurance company, which will be contacting all of the travellers in the near future."

John McMillan, director of the Holdsworth Hotels Group, which owns the Penhallow Hotel, said that all staff continued to be employed by the hotel.

He said: "We're looking at how we can redeploy them at other hotels in our group and in the local area."

When asked about possible causes of the blaze, Mr McMillan said: "It's far too early to speculate.

"The Penhallow had a full health and safety inspection just two weeks ago by a qualified health and safety consultant and was inspected three times a year."

A full police and fire investigation is now taking place at the hotel site.

The search of the rubble of the Penhallow has now started and police said the process could take more than two weeks.

Det Chief Insp Darren Lockley said it was too early to say whether the blaze was arson but that they would be treating the site as a "major crime scene".

"The horrific fire has had major consequences," he said. "It will be treated as a major crime scene until there is evidence to the contrary.

"We aim to establish the cause of the fire and how it started."