Nearly 50 guests have been evacuated from a hotel in Deeside as emergency services tackle a serious fire that has engulfed the building....
Forty-five firefighters are trying to control a fire in the roof of the Gateway to Wales Hotel on Welsh Road near Queensferry in Flintshire.
The alarm was raised at about 04:30 GMT and billowing smoke is causing significant disruption on nearby roads. Sealand Primary School has been closed.
Nobody has been injured.
North Wales Fire and Rescue Service said all 47 guests and a member of staff had been accounted for.
Area Manager Kevin Roberts, the senior office at the scene, said they all got to safety after the hotel's smoke alarms were activated.
He said crews had "pretty much surrounded" the fire, which had engulfed the roof.
"The roof structure itself is pretty much gone," he added.
An investigation into the cause of the fire will be carried out later.
Witness Danny Lawton said he was woken at 05:00 by police banging on the door.
He said: "The woman says 'there's a little bit of a fire at the hotel next door you need to get out'. Not sure what that woman thinks a big fire is but I'd call this a bit more than a little fire."
Welsh Road, Station Road and two lanes of the eastbound A494 are closed because of smoke blowing across the roads.
Flintshire council said it anticipated heavy congestion in the area and suggested roads would remain closed for at least six hours.
It added that access to Sealand Primary School was closed, meaning it could not open on Monday.
Councillor Christine John, who lives on Welsh Road, said the fire must have been "dreadful" and "so frightening" for the guests.
"There's just an awful lot of blue lights there now and an awful lot of billowing smoke. It looks so scary," she added.
The Alliance Armed Policing Unit, which works with North Wales Police, said it was supporting emergency teams at the scene.
Highways England also tweeted to warn motorists in England about the disruption: "#A494 is currently closed in both directions due to a building fire... closed from A550 and A548 junctions near Queensferry #Deeside... #M56 west traffic be aware..."
North Wales Police tweeted: "Please use alternative route as long delays are expected."
A Welsh Ambulance Service spokeswoman said it sent four ambulances, two rapid response vehicles, two duty officers and a hazardous area response team.
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