THE multi-millionaire owner of Parnham House arrested over a devastating fire at the property has denied being involved and said he wanted to rebuild and restore it.

Hedge fund manager Michael Treichl said it was 'insane' to think he could have been involved in the arson attack which gutted the Grade I-listed stately home near Beaminster, which dates back to the 16th century.

After Mr Treichl was released by police pending further inquiries, he and wife Emma spoke about the blaze for the first time.

Mr Treichl released a statement saying: "I am devastated at the loss of our home. The restoration of Parnham has been my life’s work and it is insane to think I could have destroyed it. I am now intent on rebuilding and restoring it”.

A police spokesman said: "There is no further update at this stage and the investigation is ongoing. We would still appeal for witnesses or anyone with information who has not yet spoken to police to contact us."

As Mr Treichl was protesting his innocence, experts from Historic England were on site on Tuesday assessing the damage.

Simon Hickman, the principal inspector of Historic Buildings for Dorset, Devon and Cornwall said Parnham was 'too important' not to restore.

He said: "We very much hope it does have a future. It is not a romantic ruin like Corfe Castle where you can't imagine any purpose for it.

"Parnham is very capable of reuse and we hope it will continue to serve as someone's family home for the next 500 years."

Jenny Chesher buildings inspector for Dorset was on site this week and Mr Hickman said she was very familiar with the building having been involved in its restoration ten years ago.

Ms Chesher was on site with other Historic England experts, including a structural engineer and a fire safety advisor, advising on preserving what can be preserved.

Mr Hickman said: "We are putting all our experts onto the case.

"That is one of the advantages of Historic England being here and unfortunately we have got quite a lot of experience of this sort of thing happening we are are able to supply the experts and supply them very quickly and determine the best course of action and minimise further loss.

"Discussions about rebuilding will be a long way down the line they will take place once we know the extent of loss we can't begin to talk about it until we know what survives.

"We will be looking essentially an exercise in damage limitation.

"Obviously the catastrophic effect of the fire is the principle cause of damage but following a fire the building can be very vulnerable to further severe deterioration not least because parts of it will be unsupported.

"It looks like floors and joists have disappeared in some places so some of those stone walls will be quite unstable "We will working with specialist demolition contractors about how to do the least possible damage in making the building safe.

"That is just the structural side, of course in these fires there is often, despite what looks like a pretty catastrophic collapse inside, likely to be elements of historic fabric that survive and are buried underneath the rubble.

"It is about coming up with a salvage strategy to see what is significant and what things can be retained and also to make sure as part of the entirely necessary health and safety implications making the building safe that things are not just cast away."

He said the advice given at this stage is given free

He added: "Buildings do rise from the ashes - but it is not up to us to make the call about whether it is rebuilt but it has been rebuilt several times in its life. We must not forget that it was almost entirely remodelled by John Nash in the early 19th century and indeed in the early 20th century there was a very comprehensive restoration.

"When it goes back up it will be rebuilt to standards to prevent this sort of thing happening again.

"Ultimately is capable of a beneficial use - it is a very prestigious building in a very beautiful part of the world and despite the fact that it has been very badly damaged someone will want it."