Repairs continuing at Lihou House following storm damage

But progress of repair work is going slowly and there is no date yet for when guests will be able to return.

Attempts were made to try and protect the exposed house on the tidal island before it was hit by Storm Ciaran last November.

However, there was damage to the roof and electrics, as well as one window being blown out.

Water links to the house are from a borehole, which requires electrical power to work the pump.

Until recently, Lihou warden Steve Sarre could not even flush the toilets and had to create a system using buckets of water.

A temporary fix has now been made to the electrical supply.

‘The roof is repaired now,’ he said.

‘There’s just a couple more places to do and the window has been ordered so hopefully that should be here in about six weeks’ time.

'I really don’t know when people will be back to stay, there’s still so much to do and we still don’t have proper electric.

‘There’s bits that I can do, but a lot of it is waiting for companies to come and fix things.’

Mr Sarre only had running water again from the last tide, and can now clean the system out and get it running. One of the generators was operating, and the house is mainly powered using solar power. However, during the storm, water entered the electrical system in an outbuilding.

He has since made a fibreglass casing to cover electrics to keep them dry once they have been replaced.

A new bore hole pumping system has been fitted.

School trips usually start visiting the island in April, and while there is hope that the trips can go ahead, there is still no definite timeline on when the works will be completed.

Insurance is currently covering the cost of essential works and loss of earnings from cancelled bookings.

Non-essential new carpets, lighting and bedroom improvements will come in time, and after future fundraising.

The Lihou Charitable Trust is a locally registered charity, which maintains and operates Lihou House for the benefit of the community.