A family is still in the dark about the cause of a fire that left them homeless after destroying their roof.

Diane and George Dibben escaped uninjured when the blaze tore through their home in Kings Road, Southminster, but the damage their house left uninhabitable.

Along with their children, James, 20, and Grace, 23, the couple are now renting a home nearby and may be forced to remain there until Easter next year.

Scaffolding has been put up at the house and a new roof is being designed and will hopefully be in place by November.

But the family, who lived in their home for the last 25 years, will have to wait for the house to dry out before they can proceed further with repairs.

The roof of the house is believed to have caught alight after a fire began in a shed located in an overgrown patch of land next door to the Dibben’s home, just after 10.45pm on August 7.