TRAVELODGE chief executive Joanna Boydell has stepped down months after Forest of Dean MP Matt Bishop joined calls for urgent action over a serious hotel security breach which led to a woman being sexually assaulted.

Ms Boydell left the role on Monday, August 17, with chief financial officer Ray Reidy taking over as interim chief executive while the budget hotel chain searches for a permanent successor.

Her departure follows months of scrutiny surrounding an assault at a Travelodge in Maidenhead, where Kyran Smith gained access to a woman's room after providing her name and claiming to be her boyfriend.

Smith was later convicted and sentenced to seven-and-a-half years in prison.

As reported by the Forester in March, Mr Bishop joined a cross-party group of MPs and Peers in demanding answers from Travelodge over how the incident was allowed to happen and what measures were being taken to protect guests.

The group wrote to Ms Boydell requesting a meeting and called for stronger procedures to prevent unauthorised access to hotel rooms.

At the time, Mr Bishop said hotels had a "clear duty of care" towards guests and stressed that people travelling alone needed to be able to trust that their privacy and safety would be protected.

He also highlighted the relevance of the issue to Forest residents who regularly stay in hotels elsewhere in the country for work and leisure.

The controversy later attracted attention from Downing Street, with then Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer urging Travelodge to engage seriously with the Government over safety concerns.

Before stepping down, Ms Boydell apologised for the distress experienced by the victim and acknowledged that the company had got things wrong and should have acted sooner.

Travelodge launched an independent security review led by Paul Greaney KC in March, while also introducing a series of changes across its hotels.

Under revised procedures, staff are prohibited from issuing replacement or additional room keys without the explicit permission of the registered occupant.

The company has also checked that key-card-operated doors at its UK hotels are fitted with functioning secondary manual deadbolts.

Travelodge operates around 600 hotels across the UK, Ireland and Spain.

Chairman Stephen Shurrock said the leadership change did not alter the company's "absolute focus" on safety and security.

Mr Reidy said Travelodge would continue to engage proactively and constructively with the Government and wider hospitality industry while the independent review continues.

Mr Bishop had previously welcomed Travelodge's decision to review its procedures, but said the process needed to result in concrete changes across its hotels to prevent a similar incident happening again.

Mr Bishop said in March that the case was about accountability, improving safety and ensuring institutions responded properly when women experienced harm.

He said constituents deserved reassurance that hotels took safety seriously and that lessons from the Maidenhead assault should be applied across branches nationwide.

The leadership change comes after reports that Ms Boydell had initially refused to meet MPs to discuss concerns, before Travelodge committed to engagement and its security overhaul.