The Otter Hotel, in West Auckland, was gutted

The Otter Hotel, in West Auckland, County Durham, was gutted by a ferocious blaze in the early hours of August 10, 2009.

Thirty firefighters and eight appliances from Bishop Auckland, Newton Aycliffe, Darlington and Durham City were required at the height of the blaze, which destroyed most of the roof and extensively damaged the rest of the building.

Investigations into the cause of the fire were hampered by the unstable structure and the risk of the building collapsing.

At the time, Durham Police received a report of two people running away from the scene, but subsequent investigations drew a blank.

Two people were arrested in relation to the incident, but released without any further action.

A spokeswoman for Durham Police said: “A forensic investigation was carried out after the incident and items were submitted to the lab, but this did not yield any new lines of inquiry or identify any other potential suspects.”

A spokesman for the County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service said: “I strongly suspect the fire was started deliberately.

“Between ourselves and the police, we conducted a joint investigation.

“We excavated the scene and brought in a specialist dog handling team which detects or searches for the presence of flammable liquids.”

The charred building, which has been subject to some graffiti, remains boarded-up and unoccupied.

Hazel Charlton, chairwoman of West Auckland Parish Council, described the area as an eyesore.

She said: “The building, as it is at the moment, is also dangerous.

There is a lot of debris lying around and it is not sectioned off.

“Something needs to be done about it and the site needs to be cleared. It either needs to be razed to the ground or rebuilt.”

Formerly known as The Wheatside, The Otter Hotel is on the Bildershaw Bank stretch of the A68.

It underwent an extensive refurbishment in January 2006 and was originally a 19th Century farmhouse.