A blaze which mostly destroyed a derelict house in Harrow Weald Common yesterday afternoon is being treated as arson, say police.

The blaze at the detached house in Old Redding at just after 4.30pm caused extensive damage to the first floor and completely destroyed the roof, taking nearly 16 hours to bring under control.

Harrow Police said nobody was injured or trapped in the building and that it was liaising with fire investigators’ probe in into the “suspicious” incident.

Approximately 20 firefighters battled the fire, which was opposite The Case Is Altered pub, and remained at the scene until just before 8.15am this morning to dampen down the ashes to make sure the building did not reignite.

Because of the poor condition of the house, it was too dangerous for firefighters to enter, meaning it took a long time to bring the fire under control.