Cutty Sark fire was 'accidental'

A fire which virtually destroyed the Cutty Sark – one of London's most popular tourist destinations – was "accidental", according to police sources.

The inferno – which caused around £10 million worth of damage to the 19th century clipper – was started "inadvertently" by renovation workers, who left an Italian-made Planet 200 industrial vacuum cleaner on for two days.

Leaving the construction site in Greenwich, south-east London, on Friday night, the workers failed to switch off the machine, causing fire to break out in the early hours of Monday 21st May 2007.

There were no sprinklers on the ship, as they had been removed while it was being repaired. No fire alarm went off and arson was initially cited as the most likely cause of the first.

However, this has now been ruled out.

Reconstruction of the vessel – built in 1869 as a merchant ship, the last to be built for the purpose – is now expected to cost some £35 million.

This is an increase of some £10 million on previous estimates, despite just five per cent of the original fabric of the ship being lost in the blaze.

Much of the ship's decking had been removed in order to facilitate renovation work.

The police also criticised two security guards who had "put their feet up" at the site, after faking a log and failing to carry out a nightly fire check.

Both were immediately dismissed.

Chris O'Toole