NEARLY 200 guests and staff were evacuated from a Bournemouth hotel on Friday lunchtime.

Five fire crews were sent to the Queens Hotel in Meyrick Road after reports of a smell of burning.

A spokesperson for Dorset Fire and Rescue said they were called to the scene at 12.06pm.

The smell of burning was coming from a jacuzzi motor that caused the electricity to trip.

Karen Adams, group manager for Dorset Fire and Rescue, said: "There was a smell of burning in the basement so we sent five pumps and an aerial platform.

"When we got here there was a strong smell of chlorine in the basement and also a bit of a burning smell, so we had to eliminate whether it was a chemical incident or a fire because it had tripped off some of the electrics.

"We can confirm now it was one of the blowers that supplies the jacuzzi that was burnt through, which tripped off the electricity. The resin on the blower caused the burning smell.

"The electricity board have arrived and the hotel’s own electrician to take away the pump and replace that and reinstate the electricity," she added.

Around 200 people were evacuated from hotel, with the Britannia Hotel taking people in while the incident was ongoing.

Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus were seen going into the building to deal with the incident, an eyewitness said.

Owner of the hotel James Gordon said: “We went down to the basement and things didn’t smell quite right, so I evacuated the hotel because health and safety is paramount."

He added: “It’s a case of safety comes first, that’s more important than anything. We’ve got well over 200 people in today as well. But at least it happened now rather than later.”