Vacuum cleaner blamed for Cutty Sark fire

30/09/2008

An overheating vacuum cleaner left on for two days was responsible for the fire which gutted the Cutty Sark last year, an official inquiry has concluded.

The 14-month probe, which delivered its findings today, said it had found no evidence that the tea clipper was the subject of an arson attack as had originally been feared.

Instead a failed industrial vacuum cleaner, which had been inadvertently left switched on over the weekend of May 19th and 20th 2007, was judged to have been responsible.

"It is the view of the inquiry that the cause of the fire was accidental," a spokesperson for Metropolitan police, which conducted the investigation, announced this morning.

Dramatic pictures taken from helicopters during the fire showed the 140-year-old clipper, based in Greenwich, completely ablaze on the morning of May 21st 2007.

The fire, which started during the early hours of the morning, was only fully extinguished at about 08:00 BST that day.

It later emerged that the bulk of the ship had been dismantled and taken offsite for conservation work, while the bow and stern both survived unscathed.

The £35 million target to restore the Cutty Sark has now been reached.