LIFE behind bars does not seem to be too much of a chore for colourful Teignmouth hotelier Shirley Bothroyd.
She is currently on remand in HMP Eastwood Park prison, awaiting trial on charges of arson with intent to endanger life, assaults against hotel staff and a policewoman, and two offences of littering.
But in a letter to Teignmouth Post reporter John Ware from the Wotton-under-Edge women’s prison in Gloucestershire, she seems to be treating it like a holiday camp.
‘Greeting from HMP Butlins!,’ says the former barrister, showing that she has not lost her dark sense of humour.
Ms Bothroyd, 58, owns the now closed seafront Bay Hotel which two years ago was branded the Teignmouth Fawlty Towers following a series of online reviews by unhappy guests.
After the story was broken by the Teignmouth Post, it went viral in national newspapers and around the world, and Ms Bothroyd later maintained the publicity hadn’t done her any harm, and actually led to an increase in bookings.
In her note she declares ‘I am fine!’, and is using the gym and library, gardening and cooking.
Bizarrely she says her food and drink is not being ‘spiked with crack cocaine anymore’.
She also adds she is ‘clear of booze’, and has stopped smoking.