Woodstove is in and certified. Chipboard was pulled back to the required distance from the fireplace chamber etc. so no issues there.

COnfirmed with them that all building regs are satisfied, and checked this out myself with ref to minimum distances etc.

So thankfully were not screwed. Gas had to come out as it was condemned in any event.

All Im interested at this point is what solution to use for the whole wall, now weve resolved one part of it.