A historic manor house in Devon that was damaged by fire will eventually return to public use, but restoration work will cost millions, the trust that manages it has said.

Poltimore House, near Exeter, suffered “significant damage” in a suspected arson attack in April.

The trust said it needed about £15m to fully restore the 18th Century country house, which had been undergoing restoration work for decades prior to the fire.

Peter Totterdill, chairman of the trust, said it was “very hard to put a timescale” on works and when the site would reopen to the public.

“We don’t now have the option of just hoping something will happen,” he said.

“If we just leave it, it’s going to deteriorate further so we’re really working on a robust time scale.”

Mr Totterdill said the negative of the fire had been outweighed by positive future prospects.

“In a way the fire has given us more opportunities to think creatively about what the future would look like,” he said.

“We’re pretty committed to saving what can be saved but it also allows us the possibility to create different kinds of spaces and actually very exciting spaces within the structure of the building.”