Highland Council counts the cost of care home fire

HIGHLAND Council will have to find an extra £100,000 to refurbish its fire-damaged Lochbroom House care home at Ullapool. The work has already cost £1.3million.

The additional bill is for a host of improvements including an extension to a sprinkler system, more fire protection in the roof of the facility and general refurbishment work not connected with last April’s blaze.

Councillors will be told at a meeting next week that additional work is needed “due to the general deterioration of the building since the original loss adjuster’s assessment”.

The council expects the repairs to be completed by the end of May.

Social work director Harriet Dempster will tell committee members, who are due to meet in Inverness on Wednesday, that the additional expenditure can be met “from slippage in other projects”.

Last year’s suspicious fire broke out soon after the completion of a £1.1million, 10-month refurbishment programme.

At its height, 20 firefighters tackled the blaze, which caused extensive damage to the roof, part of which collapsed. No one was injured.

The previous work featured a new lift, upgrading of all 10 rooms to provide en suite facilities, a new heating system and improved wheelchair access.