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CHRISTMAS will be spent in a caravan for a Bromham family after their home was made uninhabitable by a fire last week.
Neil Leithes, 30, Dawn Ives, 39, and their two-year-old twins Zak and Kelsey had to move into the caravan they had bought just six weeks before after the fire destroyed the mains fuse box in their Minty's Top home on Friday afternoon.
Firefighters from Devizes and Melksham were soon on the scene and the fire was soon out.
But the house was smoke-logged and there was no hope of replacing the destroyed fuse box and electricity meter much before the New Year.
Mr Leithes, surveying the wreckage while family and friends cleaned up as best they could, said: "What am I going to do? All our clothes stink of smoke and I've got a freezer full of food that is going to go off."
Sarsen Housing Association, which owns the property, were only able to find the family temporary accommodation in Marlborough, 20 miles away.
So Mr Leithes and Ms Ives decided to make their own arrangements.
Ms Ives said: "Fortunately, we bought this caravan about six weeks ago. It wasn't the Christmas we expected to spend, but it was OK. We had a fan heater and it was warm enough.
"We have some really good friends and we had our Christmas dinner with them. Sarsen offered us a place in Marlborough. Apart from the fact it is so far away, there was nothing there.
"Neil and I would like to thank everyone who helped us. It could have been a lot worse."
Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service said that there was a possibility the fire was caused by Christmas lights attached to the outside of the house overloading the circuit.
They recommend that everyone make sure that manufacturers recommendations are followed when rigging outdoor lights over the Christmas period.