A CHRISTMAS fire that left more than a dozen Moreton residents homeless a year ago has spurred housing managers to press home the need for people to insure their home contents.

Work is only now coming to an end to rebuild the flats at Dunstall House a year after the Christmas Day blaze ripped through the building. 12 flats were left uninhabitable by the fire, which was caused by an electrical fault, leaving some residents with little more than the clothes they left the building in.

Now staff at Fosseway Housing Association, which owns the flats, say the fire has prompted them to take a fresh look at the issue of insurance.

Business support manager Liz King said: "We found that only one of the flats affected had contents insurance themselves, so that has been very traumatic for individuals because they had no insurance to cover them.

"In the light of that, Fosseway Housing has been working to set up a tenants' contents insurance scheme we hope to launch in spring."

She said it had emerged that many were unable to take out normal contents insurance because, for example, they did not have a bank account. "One in four homes throughout Britain has no contents insurance and most of those are tenants," she said, adding: "It is often a low priority, but in a block of flats like this it shows how essential it is to have some cover." The association has also stepped up its efforts to emphasise the importance of insurance to all new tenants.

Fosseway has spent more than £300,000 this year to rebuild the damaged flats. Ten have new kitchens, bathrooms and central heating systems, replastering, rewiring and redecoration. One has been converted into two bedsits and one completely rebuilt.

The devastating fire completely destroyed part of the roof when it broke out early in the morning. Firefighters from all over the north Cotswolds dealt with the blaze while the tenants were treated to food and drink at the nearby Inn on the Marsh.

Over the last 12 months 11 tenants have been rehoused, but another four have now returned to Dunstall House after almost a year in temporary housing.

Work has only just finished on the repairs and the last of the new tenants moved in only last week. Liz King said: "The rebuilding works are complete. All that's left is two flats and to tidy up the exterior."