BRITISH GAS has come under fire for failing to protect a listed building in the centre of the town.

Watford Council has been calling on the owners of Grade Two* listed Frogmore House, in Lower High Street, to carry out a structural survey of the building and much-needed repairs to secure its future.

A meeting was held with British Gas Property Division (BG Plc), last June and despite its assurances to Watford Council that action would be taken, nothing was done.

Last month, a fire inside the three-storey house caused smoke damage and structural problems and the council is considering issuing a repair notice to force BG to carry out the repairs within two months.

BG conducted a structural survey on Wednesday and Hertfordshire Building Preservation Trust will today (Friday), to help the company.

Frogmore House, which dates back to 1716, was bought by British Gas in the mid-1940's but has been lying empty for the past two years.

A spokesperson for BG said: "There are no plans at the moment to refurbish it.

"The company can not lease or dispose of the building because of the gas holdings at the back of the property.This needs to be decommissioned by Transco, our sister company, before any developments can begin in the future."

Mr Russ Craig, of Beam, part of the Hertfordshire Building Preservation Trust, said: "It represents some of the best architecture of its time.

"Vandals have moved in and the door casing has already been stolen, which was an important feature.

"Our organisation is willing to help BG property division with the repairs.

"We are very concerned about the dilapidated state of Frogmore House.

"The building has dry rot and there is a bulge in the south-facing wall. These repairs really could be carried out before the holdings are decommissioned."

Council Leader, Mr Vince Muspratt, said: "It's unbelievable that British Gas can show such little interest in a major part of local history.

"Huge annual profits show this is a lack of will, not cash."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.