£1m lawsuit over house fire

The family purchased their washing machine at Dixons

A man whose 17th Century Grade II listed farmhouse was gutted by fire has told the High Court that a faulty washing machine was to blame.

Quinton Lovis, 53, a former Lloyds underwriter, and his wife Michele were called into court in a £1m dispute between their insurance firm and manufacturers Hoover and the machine's suppliers Dixons.

Mr Lovis told Mr Justice Buckley on Monday how he had raised the alarm and led his wife and son Alexander, now 21, to safety as a fire engulfed Mantells Farm, Aldham, Colchester, Essex, on 24 February, 1999.

He claims evidence from fire officers and other experts will show the fire was sparked by a programmer fault in his two-year-old Hoover washing machine, which had a tendency to "stick" before going on to the spin cycle.

Hoover and Dixons suggest the blame lay elsewhere, possibly with another appliance in the area of the fire, such as a central heating boiler or a desktop computer.

Insurers' dispute

Mr and Mrs Lovis are understood to have received a pay-out from their house insurers and are living at the farmhouse, which has been refurbished.

They were called as witnesses in a dispute between their insurers on the one side and Hoover and Dixons on the other.

The house has been refurbished since the fire

The family's counsel, Christopher Purchas QC, told the judge that Mrs Lovis set the washing machine to come on after midnight.

He said evidence suggested that a programmer fault started a fire which spread across the roof of the utility room - also containing a tumble dryer and central heating boiler - to the billiards room, and from there into the main house.

Mrs Lovis told the judge she hardly ever used the tumble dryer and would normally take the plug out.

She said the family's clothes were generally washed on a "woollens" setting and dried over an Aga stove.

The hearing continues.