A mother has reflected on the Royal Albion hotel fire nearly 25 years after it was last destroyed in a blaze.

Megan Allan was 10 years old and a student of Saltdean Primary School when she heard the news that the Royal Albion hotel in King’s Road, Brighton, had gone up in flames on November 24, 1998.

She told The Argus: “I remember everything coming to a standstill in Brighton.

“Everything just stopped.

“My grandparents were coming down from Scotland and they had seen it on the news which was really shocking to me at that age.”

The Argus: Pupils from Saltdean Primary School in January 1999 interviewing a fireman. Christopher Waite, then nine, and Megan Allan, then ten, interviewed assistant divisional officer fireman Bob Trotter. Pupils from Saltdean Primary School in January 1999 interviewing a fireman. Christopher Waite, then nine, and Megan Allan, then ten, interviewed assistant divisional officer fireman Bob Trotter. (Image: Megan Allan/The Argus)

She was one of two pupils from the school to interview Bob Trotter, assistant divisional officer for East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service (ESFRS) who attended the Royal Albion hotel fire.

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Reflecting 25 years on, Ms Allen said: “It’s so long ago, I remember interviewing the firefighter but I can’t really remember how it came about.

“I was with my friends talking about the fire back in 1998. I knew it was some years ago but could not believe it was 25 years ago.”

Ms Allen’s daughter Amelie, 11, is only a year older than she was then. Amelie attends Harbour Primary School in Newhaven.

The Argus: Megan Allan, 34, and her 11-year-old daughter AmelieMegan Allan, 34, and her 11-year-old daughter Amelie (Image: Megan Allan/The Argus)

After breaking out on the fourth floor on Saturday, the blaze spread throughout the hotel and the hotel was still alight in the early hours of the morning on Monday, July 17.

The west side of the old hotel has been gutted by the fire and emergency services have been guarding the scene ever since it broke out on Saturday afternoon.

A section of the A259 directly outside the hotel will be closed until Thursday at the earliest while efforts are ongoing to make it safe.

The Argus: A mother has reflected on the fire 25 years on

“I don’t feel that people are as focused on it as they were last time,” said Ms Allen.

“Back then we didn’t have ways of keeping in touch instantly and would have to wait to see our friends at school.

“It felt like it was a lot bigger and more dramatic then. I remember being so shocked to find out it was a kitchen fire.”