THE cladding on one of Swindon's biggest hotels is to be checked for combustibility in the wake of the Grenfell Tower disaster.

The Holiday Inn Express, located in Bridge Street in the heart of the town centre, is the latest building to come under the spotlight as the focus on fire safety shifts from council owned residential blocks to the private sector.

Built in 2003, the hotel is almost entirely externally clad. It boasts 134 bedrooms and a conference facility with seven larger meeting rooms.

Last year, planning permission was granted for a further extension which is set to include an additional 27 rooms in the current hotel as well as a separate new budget hotel, with 73 rooms, which will be located on the currently unoccupied first floor.

IHG, Holiday Inn's parent company, has pledged to take all necessary steps to investigate the nature of any fire risk that might exists.

A spokesman for the firm said: "At IHG the safety of our guests and colleagues is an absolute priority. We explicitly require that the owners of our hotels must ensure that they meet all building regulations and local codes.

"Further to this IHG has a rigorous set of fire, life and safety requirements and operational procedures that hotels must also comply with.

"We are currently working with our hotel owners to assess properties operating under our brands. We are also tracking the Government and local authority investigations into Grenfell very carefully.

"As the findings of official reports are released we will continue to work with owners and operators of our hotels to provide the support and guidance needed to meet any new or updated building regulations or codes."

Swindon Borough Council has already confirmed that none of its residential properties have cladding of the sort used in the Grenfell Tower refurbishment.

But the council also has a wider public safety responsibility and the expectation of the public will be that it is facilitating checks on privately owned buildings where required.

A spokesman for the council said: "As regards private sector high rise buildings, these are not a council responsibility. Each individual management company have their own duty of care to identify any potential issue regarding external cladding fitted to their buildings.

"We are aware that Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service are working closely with building premises managers in Swindon to give any support that is needed."

The council has also confirmed that it has been in contact with schools in the town out of an abundance of caution following advice from national authorities.

The spokesman added: "With regards to schools for which the council is responsible, we are in contact with the Education and Skills Funding Agency, whose focus is around residential schools or those of four storeys or more.

"The council does not have any schools that meet these criteria, however the council has written to all of the borough's maintained schools regarding their current processes and will provide our response to ESFA later this week."