Farmhouse fire £1m lawsuit dropped

The house has been refurbished since the fire

A £1m claim that a faulty washing machine caused a fire which gutted a 17th century grade II listed farmhouse has been discontinued

Former Lloyds underwriter Quintin Lovis, 53, claimed the washing machine was the seat of a fire in 1999 at Mantells Farm, Aldham, Colchester.

He sued the machine's manufacturer, Hoover, and retail chain Dixons Group where he brought it.

Both had denied blame and Mr Lovis has now decided to "discontinue" his claim.

At the High Court on Monday, Mr Justice Buckley was told that Mr Lovis and his wife Michelle had discontinued their claim against Dixons and Hoover by consent, and will pay £25,000 to each of the defendants as a contribution towards their costs.

The family purchased their washing machine at Dixons

When the case opened before Mr Justice Buckley last year, Mr Lovis said he raised the alarm and led his wife and son Alexander, now 21, to safety as the fire swept through their home on the night of 24 February 1999.

He claimed 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 had suggested the blame lay elsewhere - the tumble dryer, or the central heating boiler, or a desktop computer.

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

They were called as witnesses in a dispute between their insurers and Hoover and Dixons in which the insurers sought repayment of the cost of repairs to the house.