Ludlow hotel admits civil liability over Legionnaires’ death

The Feathers Hotel in Ludlow has made an admission of civil liability over the death of 69-year-old Elaine Brown after she contracted Legionnaires’ disease while staying at the hotel.

The admission was announced by lawyers from solicitors Irwin Mitchell’s specialist public health team who are acting on behalf of Brown’s family.

Brown, from Merseyside, died at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital in August 2017 after suffering a stroke as a result of Legionnaires’ disease, which emerged just days after she stayed at the hotel with her husband Graham.

Public Health England later confirmed that a second guest at the three-AA-star, 40-bedroom property had also contracted the disease but had made a full recovery.

Elaine’s family instructed Irwin Mitchell’s to investigate the circumstances surrounding her death, and to determine whether more could have been done to protect her, or indeed whether she and her husband should even have been allowed to stay at the hotel following the previous reports of the illness in April.

The legal team at Irwin Mitchell received the admission of liability for the civil claim from the hotel paving the way for a future settlement agreement for Brown’s family.

Jatinder Paul, an associate representing the family, said: “It is over six months since Elaine passed away and her family remain understandably devastated and angry at their avoidable loss.

“Whilst we welcome the admission of liability by the Hotel as a positive step forward for the family in this legal action, ultimately the hotel’s decision to take responsibility for its failures cannot turn the time back and Graham has lost his dear wife.”

The Public Health England investigation is ongoing and its formal outbreak report is awaited.