Bosses of the restaurant where a woman was found dead after visiting the toilet two days earlier have spoken out for the first time.
Emergency services were called to the Gurkha Restaurant in Blackpool at 1pm on Saturday November 30 after the body of 47-year-old Sabrina Lyttle was discovered in the disabled toilet. Police have confirmed there are no suspicious circumstances and an inquest is due to be held in April.
Sabrina’s mum Catherine has made various claims about the incident on Facebook, in a public post, and bosses of Gurkha have now provided further detail to explain why two days passed between Sabrina visiting the toilet and her body being discovered.
In a statement, restaurant bosses said: “On Thursday 28th November 2024 at 8.34pm, a non-customer member of the public entered the premises and asked to use the toilets.
“As the restaurant had already closed for the evening, directions to the pub toilets, which are in a separate area of the building, were given. Staff in the pub provided further directions to the general pub toilets and did not issue access to the disabled toilet.
“Access to the separate and locked disabled toilet is gained via staff as the facility cannot be opened without a RADAR key. The male and female toilets are deep-cleaned every morning and checked throughout the day, with the disabled toilet checked after every authorised use and cleaned as required, due to infrequent use.
“Access to the disabled toilet was not requested until Friday evening around 10pm. The staff with the assistance of other helpful pub customers were unable to unlock the door and as access had not been granted for the past 24 hours, it was reported as a maintenance issue to management.
The Gurkha restaurant in Blackpool
(Image: Jason Roberts/LancsLive)
“The following day on Saturday before opening, management was unable to gain access using all secure keys and removing the locking mechanism before alerting the police.
“We are aware of public posts that are full of information that is not correct, and we believe speculation has not contributed positively to anyone affected, including the grieving family, the dedicated Gurkha staff and the community of Blackpool. We are aware of an ongoing inquest and will not be making any further public comments.”
Blackpool Council has confirmed that they are aware of the incident and officers from the public protection team intend to speak to bosses at the restaurant once staff return from their Christmas break.
Subscribe to our daily newsletter LANCS LIVE NEWS and get all the biggest stories from across Lancashire direct to your inbox