Notre-dame inferno the ‘stuff of nightmares’

Watching Paris’s Gothic masterpiece Notre-dame burn is the stuff of nightmares for anyone who looks after Britain’s historic buildings, architectural experts have said.

Ptolemy Dean, who is in charge of the upkeep of Westminster Abbey, said: “I felt sick and horrified at the sight of that marvellous building going up in flames.

“It is a shocking, horrible and unexpected thing to happen, particularly during holy week. It is in fact what we all dread happening to a building we have charge of.”

Hundreds of millions of euros have already been pledged to rebuild the cathedral.

French luxury and cosmetics group L’oreal and its owners, the Bettencourt Meyers family, have pledged €200m (£173m).

French tycoon Bernard Arnault and his luxury goods group LVMH have also pledged €200m.

The Pinault family has pledged €100m to help restore the 850-year-old cathedral.

Francois-henri Pinault was quoted in the French media as saying he and his father Francois had decided to donate the money to help with a “complete reconstruction”.

The younger Mr Pinault is chief executive of luxury group Kering, which owns brands such as Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent.

Energy firm Total will contribute €100m.

Other donations reported include €20m from the holding company of the Jcdecaux family – the owner of one of the world’s largestoutdooradvertising companies.

Although road blocks had been set up, police were allowing many people through yesterday, people who were showing their passes to prove they worked on the island.

Many people seemed to be turning up for work as usual.

There was an air, if not of normality, at least of calm, in a city famous for civil unrest.

Notre-dame had survived the Revolution, the Terror and the Nazis. It had been repaired and restored.

And yesterday Paris was taking the latest events very much in its stride.