A BODY found at a hotel which has been seriously damaged by fire may take days to identify.

More than 130 guests and 25 staff were evacuated from the Majestic Hotel in Harrogate yesterday when a fire ripped through the 19th Century building causing extensive damage.

Fire crews and police discovered a body in staffing quarters on the fifth floor of the 170-bedroom hotel and a post mortem is being carried out today.

A spokesman for North Yorkshire Police said: "The post mortem will be carried out throughout the day and our officers are working tirelessly to ascertain the cause of the blaze."

One member of staff remains unaccounted for, 41-year-old kitchen porter Nigel Butterfield.

Police said Mr Butterfield finished work on Tuesday afternoon and was due to have a day off yesterday.

The emergency services received 13 calls from guests and members of the public and arrived at around 5.15am yesterday morning, sixteen appliances and around 90 fire-fighters tackled the blaze.

The operation has now been scaled down, only one appliance remains at the scene, working on damping down and checking for potential hot-spots.