404 Errors Deeper Rooted In Apache, Not WordPress?

Hi All,

I’m having trouble getting through 404 errors. The CentOS server was rebuilt by the host recently; have put the same files, database & htaccess files back that were initially there, and have tweaked the Apache conf, but still getting the same error:

When permalinks is set to:
i) Default: posts, pages & categories can be loaded, existing & new, albeit with the new permalink
ii) Custom/Template: 404 error all the way, posts, pages & categories, whether the existing permalink structure or a new one

All the above is with websites .htaccess file set to 0666, with the following inside:
# BEGIN WordPress
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
RewriteRule ^index\.php$ – [L]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule . /index.php [L]
</IfModule>
# END WordPress

Apache Conf is set to:
<VirtualHost *:80>
ServerName http://www.website.com
ServerAlias website.com *.website.com
DocumentRoot /home/website/public_html
<Directory /home/website/public_html>
Allow from all
Options +Indexes
</Directory>
</VirtualHost>

LoadModule rewrite_module modules/mod_rewrite.so (without comments)

Permissions all set to 0755.
/home
/website
/public_html
/wp-admin
/wp-content
/wp-includes

Have tried what the existing forum posts say, change permalinks, check htaccess permissions etc, but keep going in circles.
Regards
Digiman