Clandon Park fire: National Trust insurers seek damages

One of Clandon Park's most well-known features, the Marble Hall, was left in ruins by the fire

Insurers for the National Trust are suing a construction company and a building consultancy firm over a fire that gutted Clandon House in Surrey.

The 18th-century mansion near Guildford was nearly destroyed in the blaze in 2015.

It is thought to have been started by an electrical fault.

A spokesman for insurers Zurich Municipal said: "We have been working closely with the National Trust on this complex claim."

The roof and upper floors of Grade I listed Clandon Park were destroyed in the fire, which is believed to have started in an electrical distribution board located in a cupboard in the basement.

It then spread through a lift shaft and voids in the building, up into the roof.

The roof and much of the interior of Clandon Park House were destroyed in the fire

Several hundred artefacts were recovered and the building, now covered with scaffolding, is to be restored in a £30m project.

In a statement, a National Trust spokeswoman said: "Our insurers Zurich Municipal are pursuing legal action against third parties for the losses suffered at Clandon Park during the fire on 29 April 2015.

"The National Trust is providing support in that litigation and we cannot comment on any questions relating to the case."

The claim involves building company Cuffe Plc and property consultants Tuffin Ferraby Taylor (TFT).

A spokesman for TFT said: "We are co-defendants in this action and very much the junior of the defendants. The fire at Clandon Park was significant but the work we did there was minimal, and peripheral to the issues that will be contested."

Cuffe Plc was also contacted for comment.