Three men trapped in hotel fire in Bayswater

Three people were left trapped and hundreds evacuated a hotel after a fire broke out last night.

The men stranded on the first and second floors were rescued by firefighters and rushed to hospital, suffering from smoke inhalation. Their condition is currently unknown.

Fifty eight firefighters were called to a hotel in Princes Square, Bayswater, west London, at 11pm on Friday, 16 April, and worked until the early hours to extinguish the fire, which started in the basement.

Station manager Charles Hanks said: "Our crews worked hard to confine the fire to the basement and to stop it from spreading to the upper floors of the hotel. Firefighters rescued three people and carried out a systematic search of the building to make sure no-one else was inside."

In total 200 people evacuated the premises. Crews from Paddington, Kensington, North Kensington, Soho, Hammersmith and West Hampstead fire stations attended the scene.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.