A FLAT in Salisbury has been left “totally unliveable” after it was gutted by fire this afternoon.

Wiltshire Fire and Rescue got the call to the first floor flat in Gigant Street at 2.35pm and two crews from Salisbury and a crew from Wilton tackled the blaze.

Luckily, no one was in the flat at the time and, after an initial problem with access, firefighters managed to put out the fire within about five minutes.

White Watch manager Lucy May said the fire was “severe” but they didn’t know what had caused it yet.

She said: “Investigations are in progress to determine why it started but we would like to remind everyone that it’s really important to check everything is switched off before they leave the flat and shut doors. Just shutting doors can stop smoke going everywhere.”