KEY POINTS:
The New Zealand Defence Force is comfortable with security plans for the New Zealand Memorial opening in London early tomorrow, despite an arson at a hotel where some of the official party are staying.
The arsonist sneaked into the four-star Thistle Kensington Garden Hotel about 6pm on Wednesday (London time) and set fire to a vehicle in the basement.
Smoke flooded into the first floor before permeating the higher levels, and all the guests in the 175-room hotel were evacuated. They were allowed to return to their rooms after about two hours.
A Defence Force spokeswoman said only two members of the military were staying in the hotel, both assisting members of the media who had flown over for the ceremony and were booked in there.
She said she was completely comfortable with security preparations for the unveiling of the memorial at nearby Hyde Park Corner.
"I have absolutely no concerns whatsoever. It hadn't even crossed my mind that that this was any kind of security issue at all."
Security for tomorrow's ceremony will be extremely tight, with the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh both attending.
Prime Minister Helen Clark and Opposition leader Don Brash will also be at the ceremony, plus about 3000 other New Zealanders, many of them expatriates living in Britain.
- NZPA
