THE opening of a £9m oriental spa at one of the region's most luxurious hotels may now be delayed following a fire yesterday.

Five fire appliances including an engine with a 100ft aerial ladder were rushed to Seaham Hall Hotel at about 6am to tackle a blaze which had broken out in the roof of a treatment room suite.

The spa is situated in a separate section of the complex and residents in the hotel, who were having breakfast at the time, were informed of the fire but no evacuation of guests was necessary.

Entrepreneur Tom Maxfield bought the Grade-II listed building in 1997 and spent millions of pounds transforming the historic hall from a nursing home into a luxury hotel.

Since its opening last year the elegant hotel overlooking the sea has become a favourite with the rich and famous as well as a stream of international visitors.

Work on the Oriental spa, the first of its kind in Europe, has been under way for nearly two years.

The leisure complex is housed in three dome-like structures and yesterday's fire demolished 50 per cent of the roof of one of the units.

Mr Maxfield said yesterday: "There was no one on site at the time and no one was injured but there has been a fair amount of damage."

All the electrics had been switched off in the spa section and as investigations into the cause of the blaze continued Mr Maxfield said: "As yet, we have no idea how it started."

Work was on schedule for a November opening but now contractors will have to assess the damage before deciding on a new completion date.

Mr Maxfield added: "It has not altered our resolve to continue with the development and hopefully open by the end of the year."