A FARMHOUSE in Burbage worth millions of pounds went up in smoke this morning just weeks before its £1m renovation was set to be complete.

Seven fire crews from around Wiltshire were needed to help extinguish the blaze after a passerby saw the flames on Grafton Road just before 6.50am.

No one is thought to have been in the house at the time however, South West Ambulance Service were outside on standby.

The family who own the six-bedroom house were due to move in after Christmas.

“We have nearly finished,” said self-employed carpenter Darren Johnson from Andover, who arrived with colleagues to find firefighters at the house.

“The family were meant to be moving in after Christmas. It is really high-spec and we have been working on it for over a year – it is completely devastated.”

It is understood the fire may have started from the roof but the team of seven people renovating the property say they are lucky to not have been inside at the time.

Fire crews used two large water bowsers to transport water to the house, as well as four main jets and two hose reel jets.

Chief fire officer of Wiltshire Fire & Rescue Service Simon Routh-Jones added: “When we turned up there were flames right across the whole of the roof and it was difficult to control that with the limited amount of water that we had, and also the number of appliances that we had.

“What we have managed to do is protect as much as we could; the ground floor, parts of the first floor. Yes, there is some water damage but we have managed to preserve a lot and the structure of the building is sound.

“The fire investigation team will look into it and it looks as if it started somewhere in the first floor near the roof or in the roof itself, but there is no obvious reason for why it started.”

A Wiltshire Fire & Rescue spokesman said this afternoon they believe the fire to be accidental and the exact cause remains under investigation.