A 57-year-old man from Whitley will appear before magistrates in Swindon this morning charged with setting fire to his house on Saturday.

John Marshall was charged with arson with intent to endanger life after a fire was started at his end-of-terrace home at 32 Eden Grove, which took over four hours for firefighters to extinguish.

The blaze gutted the house and spread through the roof to the next-door property, forcing two young children to be evacuated, and caused smoke damage to two other houses.

Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service was called at 3.11am, with two crews from Corsham and one from Melksham attending the scene, with an aerial appliance dispatched from Swindon used to gain access to the roof.

A total of six breathing apparatus were used, with two hose reel jets and a main covering jet putting out the fire, which was extinguished by 7.40am.