INVESTIGATORS in hazardous material suits descended on a Wiltshire village as the inquiry into the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal continued.

Police and army teams worked in Winterslow, about six miles from Salisbury, on Monday afternoon, loading a white van onto a truck.

The vehicle was marked with the branding of local company Ashley Wood Recovery. A staff member declined to comment.

Bella Thomas, who runs the village post office, said: "The press keep saying about sleepy Salisbury city centre, and we're obviously a sleepy village, it's a bit of a shock. It's like a scene from the Twilight Zone, something you would see in the movies."

She said that the massive police investigation, supported by the military, has crippled some businesses in the city centre.

"I do feel for the shopkeepers. They are really suffering. It's not cheap having a business in town and it has crippled some of their businesses," she said.

It comes after emergency services investigated Mr Skripal's BMW 3 Series at Ashley Wood Recovery's garage in Salisbury on Thursday.

The army have been removing emergency services and civilian vehicles from locations across the city over weekend, including from the hospital, Bourne Hill police station, and the ambulance station.

Convoys of army loaders escorted by police motorbikes have been seen driving vehicles out of the city to the north towards Porton Down.