Latest fire at Great Yarmouth hotel being treated as arson

On Thursday morning (April 13), firefighters from Gorleston, Yarmouth, Lowestoft and Martham tackled a blaze inside a derelict building on Hall Quay.

The fire was extinguished at around 7.15am.

Fire engines outside the Star Hotel in Great Yarmouth on Tuesday, March 28. Picture - Submitted (Image: Submitted)

Norfolk Constabulary has confirmed the fire took place inside the Star Hotel, and the incident is being treated as arson. An investigation is currently ongoing.

READ MORE: Star Hotel: Fire breaks out again at derelict Yarmouth site

Graffiti was left inside the windows of the Star Hotel in 2022. Picture - Newsquest (Image: James Weeds)

Once a prominent business in the town, the Star Hotel has been closed since March 2020.

Eighteen months before the Covid pandemic led to its closure, the Star Hotel had benefited from a six-figure refurbishment in 2017 and seemed to be enjoying a renaissance.

BETTER DAYS: The Star Hotel in 2008. Picture - Newsquest Archives (Image: Newsquest Archives)

In September 2020, it emerged that while the hotel had not re-opened when it was allowed to, its rooms were advertised for sale as investments with prices starting at £44,950.

The rooms were being sold on a 149-year lease, with returns of up to 10pc being offered, as well as the option to sell it back for the price paid in five years.

It was billed as a way of raising money to complete a full refurbishment started by its previous owners.

However, less than 18 months after it found a new buyer in 2020, it changed hands for just £1,000, with the new owner being a company based in Malta called 36644 Ltd.

In 2021, social media posts indicated the Star Hotel would re-open in June of that year. 

But it never did.

The Grade II-listed Star Hotel remains boarded-up. Picture - James Weeds (Image: James Weeds)

In June last year, the Star Hotel was added to the vulnerable buildings list put together by SAVE Britain's Heritage.

Since its closure, the hotel has been repeatedly vandalised, with graffiti on the inside of its windows, and has seen at least five fires inside the premises. 

Two sets of "urban explorers" have also made their way into the building and shared images online.