Hapless contractors may not be responsible for the collapse of an Aldershot house that made newspaper headlines earlier this week.

Reporters pounced on stories that workmen digging up shrubs somehow caused the £200,000 house to begin crumbling around its owners' ears.

However, GAB's area liability director Jeff Stagg, whose team is working on the loss, said he did not want to accuse the workmen of causing the collapse.

"We're also looking into the part played by the local authority," he said.

There is no cost estimate of the damage yet, but Stagg said at least half of the property had been completely destroyed.

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