DEVELOPERS have come under fire as it became clear that an empty Ulverston mansion has become a vandals' playground.

Ulverston historian Peter Lowe said a fire that gutted part of Stone Cross Mansion on April 30 was only the latest incident in a prolonged period of vandalism and neglect.

After the fire, Mr Lowe inspected the Grade II listed building which was acquired by national housebuilders Persimmon Homes last June.

He reported that the once splendid Gothic house restored by its former occupants Marl International, looked like it had been derelict for decades.

Nearly every window was smashed with curtains blowing out of the frames. The grand entrance had been smeared with paint and grafitti while a unique Victorian glass lantern roof had been smashed letting water pour on to the decorative floors below.

Stair spindles and a banister had also been ripped out and used as firewood while glass carpeted the floors.

In the hall, Mr Lowe said a whole wall was now covered in dry rot testament to the length of time leaks had been left unchecked while dark water stains marked stone arches and capitals.

One of three valuable murals painted in 1880 by Lucien Victor Besch, which escaped being torched in the fire, had been slashed and another had holes poked through it.

"It's just horrifying to see the building like this," said Mr Lowe who researched Stone Cross's history. "I know how much work a lot of people had put into restoring it through Marl and people involved in staging concerts there. It was all voluntary efforts.

"The lack of basic maintenance and security by Persimmon Homes is a disgrace."

In a statement, the deputy managing director for Persimmon Homes Lancashire Mark Cook, said it was not in the interests of the company to let the building deteriorate since it was proposing to develop the site.

"We are equally distressed at the damage caused to Stone Cross Mansion," he said.

He pointed out that some damage had taken place before Persimmon acquired the site when it took over the Merewood Group. Merewood bought Stone Cross from Marl after a planning application to turn the house into a special school collapsed in the face of stiff local opposition.

Mr Cook said: "Since then we have spent thousands on trying to prevent vandals obtaining entry including the installation of steel shutters on the ground floor.

"Unfortunately they have gained access by other means. We are now working to ensure the building is structurally sound and are keen to accelerate our early proposals to obtain a mixed use planning consent."

South Lakeland District Council has been pushing the firm to safeguard the building and asked them last month to add 24-hour security, stop leaks to protect masonary and commission a report from a fine art expert on the safe removal of the paintings.

Immediately after the fire SLDC demanded immediate additional security to protect the paintings and repeated warnings from letters sent in January and February that SLDC would carry out the work itself and send Persimmon the bill.

Twelve days after the fire Persimmon said it was "looking into the possibility of moving the murals".

But this week Persimmon were unavailable for further comment and it was unclear what additional security had been added and whether the paintings were still at Stone Cross.

Mr Lowe demanded immediate action: "For the amount of money that have as a company it's nothing to them. If they had proper security there originally it wouldn't have got into this state."