The managing director of Epsom Downs Racecourse has confirmed work to permanently repair its damaged roof will begin shortly and has demanded a ‘guarantee’ from contractors that it will never happen again. The roof of the £23.5m Queen’s Stand was ripped-off in high winds in early January causing road closures and roofing insulation to be blown for miles across the downs.

Nearly two months after the incident, managing director, Rupert Trevelyan, said this week that a report on the damaged roof, compiled by an independent consultant, confirmed that ‘freak winds’were the cause.

However when asked if there was a fundamental issue with the installation of the roof Mr Trevelyan said that to ‘point the finger at any one person at this time would be impossible’ but added, ‘if there is an issue it will be resolved at a later date.’ Work to restore the roof to its former glory is expected to be scheduled within the next 10 days after insurers accepted the racecourse's claim.

Mr Trevelyan said: "It has been safe but now we will be putting it back in the state it should be. We are replacing the roof in a robust way that will be guaranteed by engineers who will do the calculations and make sure everything is correct. What the report shows is there was a freak gust of wind that caused it."

While Mr Trevelyan refused to divulge the financial cost of the roof's failure, he did say that it was 'not in the millions’.

Cranes will be used to repair the damaged panelling but Mr Trevelyan said is not anticipated that any work will need to be carried out on the rest of the roof to prevent a similar accident happening there. He added: "When the roof gets put back we want a guarantee that this will never happen again. It’s absolutely in our interests that we have a thoroughly safe roof. The Derby has been going on for the last 200 years and we want a grandstand which will help us continue that tradition. At the moment we have everybody going back over the calculations and that includes architects, roof contractors and engineers. They are all looking at it and it’s in their interests to make sure that it is absolutely safe. The key thing for us is to make sure it’s safe and that we are able to operate fully."

The Queen is due to visit the racecourse for the famous Derby in June kicking off her jubilee celebrations.