THE evacuated guests were ferried from the New Packhorse to the Moat House just before 12 noon yesterday.

The 80 men and women returned to the scene of the blaze to recover their belongings before travelling back home after a dramatic 12 hours.

Many of the guests had spent the night asleep on the floor of the lounge in the three star hotel on Nelson Square.

Several of them had to give statements to police as they sat in their dressing gowns in the restaurant.

Others had nothing on their feet and were wearing just shorts and t-shirts - all they could grab as they fled the Moat House in the early hours.

Some of them had only been wrapped in duvets or bed sheets as they trekked from the hotel, on Higher Bridge Street, to the New Packhorse, at 1.20am.

Staff rallied around to look after the guests, most of them businessmen and women, and extra supplies of bread were brought in from the nearby Morrisons supermarket.

The people who boarded the coaches were of all ages, some of them possibly foreign businessmen. A few looked shocked, while others seemed to be trying to laugh off the fact they had been very close to a fire which claimed two lives.

Earlier in the morning they had been using their mobile phones to contact family and friends who would have been waking-up to see the breaking news.

The New Packhorse itself was badly disrupted as it dealt with its large group of new, unexpected guests. People who had intended to hold business meetings or eat at the restaurant before noon were turned away.