INVESTIGATIONS are ongoing into the cause of a fire which destroyed workshops in the grounds of Tredegar House, Newport.

Fire crews were called to the blaze at 9pn on Saturday night. South Wales fire and rescue service were still investigating the cause of the fire on Monday afternoon.

General manager at Tredegar House, Jo Cartwright, said staff were “devastated” following the incident which happened the day after a visit by HRH the Prince of Wales.

A spokesman for National Trust Wales, who manage Tredegar House, said: “We are obviously very sad about what happened and sympathetic to the business owners and will be offering to do what we can to help them.

“It’s a massive blow for those businesses, particularly at this time of year.”

Two of the grade II listed workshops including a candle and mug shop, were completely destroyed, while a third was badly damaged.

One of the workshops, which was home to Busy Bees Patchwork, a quilting shop, was totally gutted.

The shop had six months of workshops booked, and writing on their website, the owners expressed their shock and said: “No plans have been made for the future yet.”

No-one was at the workshops at the time if the fire and no one was hurt.

The cost of the damage remains unknown, but Ms Cartwright said the buildings would be restored was it once it was understood what had happened.

The visitors centre and other buildings were unaffected and Tredegar House and grounds remain open to the public as usual.