An 18th century castle in Somerset has been fitted with a wireless fire detection system by Detectomat.

Banwell Castle fitted with Detectomat system
Banwell Castle, which is run as a bed and breakfast, was fitted with the Detectomat SRC 3000.

The alarm has been designed to be heard through dense materials, including thick castle walls.

The building’s owners, the Parsons family, also specified a wireless system to maintain the aesthetics of the Gothic building.

Selected by Argus Fire Protection, the system includes optical smoke detectors with integral sounders, break-glass call points and heat detectors.

A spokesman from Detectomat said: “The stone walls are so thick that there is no chance of a mobile phone signal and they knew that they had to be able to hear any alarm through the thick walls – the Detectomat alarm can be heard all over the building. Furthermore, they were determined to avoid unsightly wiring which would mar the beautiful stone interiors.”

A fire at the castle in 1905 took firefighters two days to extinguish.

Eurotunnel developed the water mist system following a major fire on a freight train a few miles from the French coast in September 2008.

The sprinklers, which starve fires of oxygen and prevent them from spreading, have been installed in one safe area, with three more to follow.

Chairman of Eurotunnel, Jacques Gounon, said they were customised specifically for a working railway tunnel.

Work to build three other safe fire extinguishing areas will be completed by the end of the year.

Three people from Staffordshire died as a result of the fire at the Penhallow Hotel in Newquay in August 2007.

O&C Holdsworth Ltd admitted failing to have safety procedures and equpiment in place. It was fined £80,000 and ordered to pay £62,000 costs. The fire service said it reflected the “seriousness of this case”.

Three people died as a result of the fire

Jumped from window
Holidaymakers Joan Harper, 80, Monica Hughes, 86, and her son Peter, 43, died in the blaze, described by firefighters as the worst hotel fire in Britain for 40 years. Mr Hughes, a teacher from Cheslyn Hay, Staffordshire, jumped from a third-floor window after trying in vain to save his mother. Ms Harper, of Stoke-on-Trent, was also trapped, while her twin sister Marjorie Brys was one of more than 90 people who escaped the four-storey hotel. Cornwall Council and the fire service decided to bring forward the prosecution after a comprehensive investigation into fire safety at the hotel.

Fire safety
The company, from Halifax, Yorkshire, admitted two charges in March of breaching fire precautions. It was sentenced at Truro Crown Court earlier this week. The council and the fire service said: “We hope that this will send out a very clear message to the hotel and leisure industry where sleeping accommodation is provided. “This shows the importance of adhering to fire safety legislation and ensuring the management of fire precautions is a high priority.”

The fire service in Cornwall added it was continuing to work with the families of those who lost their lives in the fire to offer support. An inquest into the deaths in 2009 returned open verdicts on all three victims.

The fire spread across the roof of the building

A junior school in Birmingham has been deemed structurally unsafe after fire ripped through the building.

Harborne Primary’s junior school will remain closed after the fire in the roof, which was tackled by more than 60 firefighters at its height on 27 April.

The infant school is set to reopen on Friday.

The city council said it could not confirm when junior school pupils would return and options were being reviewed “in the short, medium and long term”.

Year 6 Sats exams are to take place at Martineau Centre from next week, with an induction session for all pupils this Friday.

Staff and children managed to move to places of safety after the fire broke out in the afternoon and Station Road, Emerson Road and Wentworth Road were closed for a time.