Guest's 'toy fire engine' concern

The 54-room hotel was destroyed in the blaze

Two survivors of the UK's worst hotel fire for nearly 40 years have told an inquest of their concerns over the response of the emergency services.

Joan Harper, 80, Peter Hughes, 43, and his mother Monica Hughes, 86, all from Staffordshire, died at the Penhallow Hotel, Newquay, in August 2007.

Christine Worrall said the wait for the fire brigade "went on and on".

Her sister, Maureen Daniels, said when the first appliance arrived it reminded her of a "toy fire engine".

"It had just one hose - I didn't think it had a chance of fighting the fire," she said.

Mrs Worrall said she believed it took 15 minutes for the fire brigade to arrive.

Counsel for the fire brigade said the official response time had been listed as approximately 10 minutes.

There were huge yellow thick flames shooting out of the roof of the entrance Christine Worrall, hotel guest

Mrs Worrall also told the hearing of what she saw when the hotel was evacuated.

She said: "I saw thin smoke filter along the side of the hotel. There were huge yellow thick flames shooting out of the roof of the entrance."

Both women talked of seeing a woman trapped in a room waving for help.

Mrs Worrall said she still felt uncomfortable after the police and fire service arrived.

She thought their first task would be to try to rescue the woman, but she did not believe that was what happened.

"I didn't feel like it was under control, even though they had arrived," she said.

Another witness described the firefighting operation as "ineffectual".

Cornwall Fire Brigade said its official response time was 10 minutes

Hotel guest Carl Atherton, who has 35 years experience in the chemical industry with basic firefighting training, told the court he believed the fire was too big for the Cornwall Fire Brigade to deal with.

He described its equipment as inadequate and said it had "no impact at all" on the fire.

Mr Hughes, a teacher from Cheslyn Hay, died after jumping from the third floor of the 54-bedroom hotel after trying in vain to save his mother, Monica.

Mrs Harper, of Stoke-on-Trent, was also trapped, while her twin sister was one of more than 90 people who escaped.

A murder investigation was launched after the fire and four hotel staff were arrested. All were later released.

Devon and Cornwall Police said there were no prosecutions pending, but the case remained open and any new evidence would be investigated.

The inquest at Truro Crown Court continues.