THE owners of Peckforton Castle in Cheshire celebrated the anniversary of their ownership in style despite Sunday’s devastating arson attack.

The celebrity-studded bash to commemorate their fifth year went ahead just 24 hours after the blaze gutted the drawing room, bridal suite, offices and 10 bedrooms.

The Naylor family took over the castle on June 20, 2005 and transformed the venue into an exclusive wedding and conference venue.

To mark the occasion, a celebration was planned to showcase the castle’s many features to key staff, suppliers, corporate and leisure clients.

The party went ahead despite the family coming to terms with the scale of damage caused by a fire started in the castle’s drawing room.

Managing director Chris Naylor said: “We are extremely lucky that so little of the castle has been affected.

“We are incredibly proud of how our staff have responded to the incident, from the evacuation of wedding guests to the ‘business-as-normal’ attitude seen at Sunday’s wedding and Monday’s gathering everyone has been outstanding acting with diligence and commitment.

“We felt important to hold the party as a thank you to them and to celebrate our strength and visions of a new and improved business going forward. We will not be beaten.”