A Christmas tree may have sparked the Cameron House Hotel blaze that killed two men.

Staff who first raised the alarm are reported to have told 999 operators that a 12ft-high tree in the main reception area was on fire.

A source told the Scottish Sun: "The first call to the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service came from the hotel reception to report the tree was alight, at 6.40am on Monday morning.

"The 999 call was made by a member of staff."

Glasgow Times:

It's also alleged the five-star luxury hotel did not have a sprinkler system.

But Cameron House has insisted that it was "fully compliant with all relevant fire safety regulations".

Police and fire service investigations are continuing after Simon Midgley, 32, and Richard Dyson, 38, from north London died after the blaze at the hotel on Monday morning.

John Gow, who served almost 31 years with Strathclyde Fire Rescue Service and is now a senior investigator with International Fire Investigators and Consultants (IFIC) said it could not yet be argued that sprinklers would have saved lives in Cameron House because the full facts of the causes of the fire were not yet available.

He said: "Judging by the scale of the Cameron House fire I made an assumption that it was unlikely that there were sprinklers, because sprinklers are effective in containing fires and containing them to a room or an area of origin, which is there purpose."

A Cameron House spokesman said: "The hotel complies fully with all relevant fire safety regulations and its fire safety certification is complete and up-to-date.

"We continue to co-operate with the emergency services, as they investigate the cause of this tragic incident."

A Fire Scotland spokeswoman said: "The fire at Cameron House Hotel is still under a police and fire investigation. We can't comment on the cause at this time."