Hayley MaceA Lowestoft hotel which has been used to provide emergency accommodation for homeless people has been closed down by environmental health officers.The Royal Court Hotel in London Road South is advertised as a hotel but has been used for some time as a temporary shelter for homeless people in the town.Hayley Mace

A Lowestoft hotel which has been used to provide emergency accommodation for homeless people has been closed down by environmental health officers.

The Royal Court Hotel in London Road South is advertised as a hotel but has been used for some time as a temporary shelter for homeless people in the town.

Now Waveney District Council's environmental health team have closed the business down because the premises were deemed unsafe after a recent inspection when inspectors found that electrical installations were hazardous.

A spokesman for Waveney District Council said that several complaints had been received about the standards at the hotel, which prompted the inspection.

When the faulty electrics were discovered, an enforcement notice was served, requiring the owners to carry out improvements before the building could be used again. As they could not get the work done, the hotel has been closed and alternative accommodation has been found for the occupants.

Waveney's cabinet member for environment, Ken Sale, said that the inspection was necessary to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the people living there.

He said: 'We dealt with the complaints we received using emergency health and safety legislation to force the owners to make improvements or cease operating.'

The building is owned by Ryan Elizabeth Holdings, but was run by leaseholders. A spokesman for Ryan Elizabeth Holdings said that the hotel is now up for sale.

Rose Hudson, a district councillor for Kirkley, said: 'I was concerned about the safety of the people in there and told the housing officers at Waveney District Council that I didn't think the conditions were good enough.

'I went in with the environmental health officers and we went and looked round all the rooms before the electrician declared it unsafe. It was really in a dire state.

'Hopefully something good can now come out of it because it's a nice building right near the beach, it will just take quite a lot of money to get it back up to scratch.'

The council spokesman said: 'It is clear that the conditions [in the hotel] have rapidly deteriorated and, in addition, the premises were not simply being used for a hotel, requiring a possible re-classification as a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO).

'The building will not reopen until reparatory works are undertaken and it can meet the standards expected of any property under the HMO classification.'