Major fire causes £6m damage to Georgian-style mansion as 80 firefighters battle in vain to quench blaze

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The fire caused £6m worth of damage to Moreton Hall, a grade-two listed mansion, in Moreton Morrell, Warwickshire.

The hall, which was built in the early 1900s, is used for weddings and conferences but the site is also home to the Moreton Morrell Centre, the agricultural campus of Warwickshire College.

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The massive fire caused £6million worth of damage

The county's fire and rescue service said that all the students and teachers based at the centre had been evacuated to safety.

A spokeswoman for the fire service said they did not know the cause of the blaze. "The building is completely gutted. It's gone," they said. Adding that it would cost £6million to restore the building to its former glory.

West Midlands Ambulance Service said it was on stand-by to treat any injured firefighters.

Ambulance officer Nigel Wells, who was at the scene, said: "The site was a beautiful manor house, used as part of Warwickshire College.

"It was also used as a conference centre and for weddings and was a historical landmark. It is a real shame and very sad to see it going up in flames."

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Blaze: The building, which was built in the early 1900s, has been completely destroyed

Villager Oliver Williams, aged 22, was shocked at the devastation caused. He said: "We heard the fire engines and came out and saw the flames.

"It was such a nice building, I am gutted to think of the damage that has been caused."

The Moreton Morrell Centre includes stabling for more than 100 horses and an equine demonstration area. There is also a 345-hectare farm with a dairy herd, pedigree sheep flock and pedigree beef herd.

Blogs posted online said that the animals at the centre have escaped harm.

One comment read: "Yeh, it's the hall, so well away from the horses, it's completely gone.

"Fire crews are still there, my best friend's uncle is one of them, and he said they'll be there most the night. You can actually smell the smoke here. So sad as it has a lot of history."