Skripal poison ‘spread like ink’

FORMER Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were poisoned with a liquid form of the Novichok nerve agent that can be transferred as easily as ink on a finger, officials said yesterday.

Announcing a multi-million-pound decontamination operation expected to take the rest of the year, the Government warned that diluted amounts of the toxin were still thought to be present in areas of Salisbury visited by the Skripals on March 4, the day they fell ill.

A Government official said: ‘Only a small amount is needed, but it is diluted with each subsequent touch. Imagine having ink on your finger and touching different places – it becomes less potent.’

Some 190 Ministry of Defence staff will search nine locations for traces of Novichok, which can only be destroyed by specialist equipment. Ian Boyd, from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, said: ‘Meticulous work is required. We expect it will be months before all sites are fully reopened.’

Miss Skripal, 33, was discharged last week, but her father, 66, remains seriously ill at Salisbury District Hospital.