Fire completely destroyed home the day before a family of 10 were set to move in

A family-of-10 were left heartbroken after a fire destroyed their new renovated home just before they moved in.

Hester Hadfield, 38, and her husband Nathan, 32, spent weeks doing up their new property in South Reddish, Stockport and were ready to move their family in.

But while they were out at a concert last Tuesday, disaster struck and the four-bedroom council house in Morgan Place was left ruined by a huge blaze.

The mum-of-eight Hester, whose children are aged between one and 17, said: ‘We spent eight weeks – day and night – doing up the house and making it right for us.

‘We had literally just left the property after putting on the kids’ bedding when we got a phone call to say the fire brigade were at our house.

‘I didn’t think it was going to be as bad as it was but everything has been damaged.

‘I thought some of the stuff might still be standing and I could steam clean it, but the severity of the smoke damage means we have to get rid of everything.

‘Smoke has gone into the loft, so they’re going to have to rip out the insulation.

‘We’ve spent all our money on doing the place up, it was to be our forever home. All the kids were finally going to have their own room.’

As they had not yet moved in, the family hadn’t sorted home insurance.

This means they can’t get the new flooring, doors and lighting they had installed in the council house to make it truly their own replaced.

‘It just feels like it’s been one thing after another,’ Hester added.

‘The extent of the damage is heart wrenching, all of our money has gone into this house.

‘There’s none of the cladding left at all, the back door has completely gone. Everything needs to be rewired and retested. It’s all just a mess.’

They now won’t be able to move in for several months due to the extent of the repairs that are needed, and will stay at the three-bedroom council house they were going to leave.

In this house six members of the family were all sleeping in one room.

New neighbour Amy Shaw has since launched a GoFundMe page to help get them some money to put towards repairs for the house.

Amy, a mum-of-two who lives in Morgan Place, said: ‘There were so many of them sharing just one bedroom for years in their last place. They have waited for so long for a new house.

‘I have lived here for 22 years and I can’t fault the area. Nothing like this has ever happened before.

‘It is crazy, it’s shocking. A lot of people are concerned about it, especially the speed in which it went up.’

She added the family have had to borrow toys from people to give to the children as everything has been destroyed.

Hester said she has been ‘overwhelmed’ with the support from the community after what happened.

‘It’s one of the things that has helped me get through all of this,’ she said.

‘Words can’t express how much it means to us. We’re just really thankful for their support and kindness.’

The Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service confirmed firefighters had attended the property, but the reason for the blaze is not yet clear.

A spokesperson from Stockport Homes Group said: ‘Following the fire at Morgan Place, the property is currently uninhabitable, pending repairs to the fire damage.

‘The family have been advised to stay at [their current property] in the interim period and Stockport Homes Group are working closely with the Hadfield family, to keep them informed and up to date with progress.’

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