ESSENTIAL works to the former home of Sergei Skripal who was poisoned with the nerve agent Novichok have now been completed.

Scaffolding on the property in Christie Miller Road, Salisbury, is currently being removed.

Wiltshire Council says essential works have been completed and work to refurbish it will begin.

The roof of the property had to be dismantled and removed by military teams earlier in the year.

Detectives believe Mr Skripal and his daughter Yulia first came into contact with the poison when it was sprayed on the door handle of the property.

The clean-up has been taking place ever since they collapsed on March 5, 2018 but work paused over Christmas.

Everything had to be wrapped and sealed before being removed from the site.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) announced in March of this year that the final site of decontamination in Salisbury, the Skripal’s house on Christie Miller Road, was safe following extensive cleaning and testing by specialist teams.

It was handed to the South Wiltshire Recovery Coordinating Group.