Family sues Hoover over 'washing machine fire'

A family that says a faulty washing machine burned down their Grade-II listed country home has launched a million-pound claim for damages.

Former Lloyd's underwriter Quinton Lovis, 53, and his family fled their £500,000 home in Aldham, near Colchester in Essex, in February 1999 when the house caught fire. They believe the fire broke out after the washing machine overheated.

Mr Lovis, his wife Michele, 52, and his son Alexander, 21, are now suing Hoover, maker of the machine, and Dixons plc, the store they bought it from.

At the High Court hearing yesterday Mr Lovis said: "The utility room was burned down to the floor - there was nothing left of it."

A fire station officer who attended the blaze told Mr Justice Buckley: "There were two main appliances in the utility room. The first was the boiler, the second was the washing machine - that was the most likely way in which the fire could have spread."

Dixons and Hoover deny liability. The hearing continues.