AN Exmoor home which was blown up three-and-a-half years ago by a former Metropolitan Police counter-terrorism chief Malcolm Baker may be rebuilt.

Mr Baker, aged 60, died when a fireball destroyed Hiccombe House, Hartford, near Brompton Regis, as his long-term partner Francesca Onody was dragged clear by police officers.

Police had been called to a domestic incident in September, 2022, when Mr Baker ran upstairs and a fire and explosion occurred.

An inquest later heard Mr Baker had stockpiled 125 litres of petrol in a number of containers in the house and had cancelled his home insurance policy a few days earlier.

But, an inquest jury could not agree if Mr Baker intended to kill himself and ruled his death was ‘unascertained’.

Now, Miss Onody has applied to Exmoor National Park Authority for planning permission to rebuild the house, the remains of which were later demolished.

Miss Onody said she wanted to self-build a timber framed property with rock-wool insulation with the help of family and friends.

She said it was an easy construction material and method and could be built relatively quickly so she and her children would not have to continue living in caravans for another winter.

Miss Onody said her choices were limited because she was still trying to re-build all aspects of her life and deal with limited finances, earning capacity, and complex post-traumatic stress disorder.

She said the stone and brick remains of the old house would have to be sold to help finance the rebuilding.

Miss Onody said although electrical services just needed to be reconnected, she also wanted to install a solar array and a small, cylindrical shape wind turbine to enable power self-sufficiency and to reduce the new property’s environmental impact.

The national park authority is asking for any public comments to be submitted by May 27.