A FIRE destroyed a village home earlier this week, with a second suffering smoke and water damage.

Firefighters were at the scene in Bishopstone for around seven hours.

At around 12.45pm on June 1 Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service (DWFRS) was called to Stanley Close for a pair of semi-detached properties on fire.

Crews from Salisbury, Poole, Tisbury, Fordingbridge and Shaftesbury attended the scene at the height of the incident, alongnside an aerial ladder platform and supporting appliance from St Mary’s in Southampton and an incident command unit from Devizes.

This was later scaled back to crews from Salisbury, Tisbury, Shaftesbury and St Mary’s.

The stop came at 8.41pm, after crews had made the buildings safe following advice from Wiltshire Council building control.

A DWFRS spokesperson added: "One of the two properties has been destroyed by fire, the other has water and smoke damage.

"The occupants are all safe, and volunteers from the the British Red Cross emergency response team assisted both households.

"We are grateful to the parish council for enacting their emergency plan, as this helped with traffic management and a rest area, and to the White Hart pub for providing crews with refreshments."

Fundraisers have been set up to support the families affected - reports to follow.

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