The leader of Salisbury city council has said there is a “sense of closure” among residents after an extraordinary week in which two men suspected of the novichok attack were named and decontamination work finally began on Sergei Skripal’s house.

Matthew Dean said people were feeling relief at the progress of the investigation but anger that such a “reckless” act had been carried out in the cathedral city.

On Friday military personnel prepared to begin the process of decontaminating Skripal’s house, which is likely to take weeks if not months. Neighbours have been advised that experts in protective suits are likely to be seen working at the former spy’s house.

The council leader said: “I think the evidence the police have laid out has led to a sense of closure for Salisbury as it moves back to recovery. They’ve put an enormous amount of material in the public domain and that has given people reassurance.

“But I think there is anger at the recklessness of the two individuals that did this. People feel very angry that four people were seriously injured and a fifth lost her life. A lot of people think this is a wicked act, a botched assassination that could have had the most dreadful public health consequences – much worse than we’ve seen.”

Skripal, his daughter, Yulia, Nick Bailey, a police officer, and Charlie Rowley, who found a bottle containing novichok, all survived exposure to the nerve agent. Rowley’s partner Dawn Sturgess died in July.

Police have said they cannot guarantee there is no more novichok present in the Salisbury area, nor even that the container used to convey the nerve agent to Skripal’s front door in March was the same one Rowley found in June.

But Dean said it seemed “profoundly unlikely” there was any more of the nerve agent. He said: “There’s no reason to think there is any novichok in south Wiltshire. They can’t say there’s none here, just as they can’t say there’s none in the rest of the UK or Europe. There is no reason to think there is any novichok here.”

It has emerged that people who live near Skripal’s house were offered the chance to move out while the decontamination work is carried out but they have decided to stay put. It has also been revealed that the agencies involved had to seek permission from Skripal to carry out the work. He gave the go-ahead.

Police outside the former home of Sergei Skripal in Salisbury on Thursday. Photograph: Matt Cardy/Getty Images

On Friday an ambulance stood by and a red bins were laid out in a row as military personnel prepared to begin the work.

A source said the process would be “thorough but as least destructive as possible. We are taking a meticulous and thorough approach to ensure people can be fully confident that all the sites are safe.”

They added: “As with other sites, a cordon is in place so that police investigations or cleanup work can be carried out safely. The cordon in Christie Miller Road will remain until the site has been thoroughly decontaminated and we are confident it has been made safe.

“The house will not be released before a thorough assessment by the government’s decontamination science assurance group to ensure there is no foreseeable ongoing risk of exposure.”

Police have said the Skripals were poisoned by novichok that had been applied to the front door. It is not clear what is the long-term future of the house. There has been speculation that it may be knocked down but it is not believed that any final decision has been made.

Mo Jones, who works locally, said she was looking forward to the moment when the cordons were finally removed. “It’s a constant reminder of what went on. I don’t think people around here feel frightened. It’s more a feeling of being fed up but we want a final line drawn under it,” Jones said.

The advice from Public Health England continues to be that the risk to the public in Salisbury remains low. Queen Elizabeth Gardens in the city centre was relatively quiet on Friday despite a burst of autumnal sunshine. Mark Richards, who was in the park with two of his children, said he thought the city was gradually returning to normal.

“Things feel as if they are back on track but I think we have to accept it will never be quite the same,” he said. “Something awful and historic has taken place here and that will never be forgotten.”