Arson-hit Oxfordshire council offices to be demolished

Council offices gutted by a "devastating" arson attack that caused £20m of damage to an Oxfordshire village are set to be demolished.

Andrew Main used gas cylinders to start the fires in Crowmarsh Gifford in January 2015.

South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse district councils have been in temporary accommodation ever since.

Now an application has been submitted to start demolition on 14 March.

The councils plan to build a new smaller headquarters at the same site, which is owned by South Oxfordshire District Council.

The application said: "It has been decided that the building is unsuitable for re-use due to problems with its structural integrity.

"The most cost effective solution will be to redevelop the site."

Both authorities are currently based at Milton Park, Didcot, where they moved six months after the fire.

Main, 47, from Rokemarsh, was detained in a mental health unit in May 2015. Sentencing, Judge Ian Pringle described the fires as "utterly devastating".

Oxford Crown Court heard the estimated cost of damage from the fires was about £20m. The demolition is expected to take four months.

Main ploughed a car into the front of the council buildings, causing huge damage.

He started three blazes in total, which also damaged a funeral parlour and a thatched cottage.

Adrian Foster, chief prosecutor for Thames and Chiltern Crown Prosecution Service, said the motives behind Main's actions remained "unclear".

He added: "Main was clearly seriously ill... it is incredibly fortunate that nobody was hurt."