Extensive damage was caused to a caravan by a fire which broke out in the early hours of Saturday morning.

The caravan was being lived in by a number of third-country nationals at the time, with fire brigade spokesman Andreas Kettis saying the fire had broken out at around 3.46am.

He said the caravan had been parked in an orchard near the Larnaca district village of Aplanta.

“The caravan and its contents suffered extensive damage. Before the fire brigade arrived, the people in the area had used an excavator and had covered the caravan with a volume of soil to extinguish the fire. Firefighters used water hoses to put the fire out,” he said.

He added that the causes of the fire will be investigated over the weekend, with it currently believed that the fire may have been caused by clothing which was left near a heater.