Focus on spy’s car

THE focus of the spy investigation dramatically shifted yesterday to his car – in which experts believe nerve agent was planted to poison him – and a mystery masked woman.

Sergei Skripal, 66, is believed to have driven into Salisbury with his daughter Yulia, 33, parking his BMW 3 on the upper floor of a Sainsbury’s car park.

From there it was just a short walk through The Maltings precinct to Zizzi, where they ate lunch before heading to The Mill pub.

The bench on which the pair later collapsed would have been on their route back to the car.

The recovery van believed to have towed his vehicle from the parking space early last week was carefully removed from an address in the village of Winterslow, eight miles from Salisbury, by military personnel in protective suits shortly after 2pm yesterday.

Philip Ingram, a former intelligence and security officer who has studied chemical warfare, said the car was now the likely source of the contamination.

Mr Ingram said: “Using the car would explain why both Mr Skripal and his daughter got a dose at the same time and then transferred it around the restaurant and the pub. This nerve agent Novichok would have taken effect in hours at most to work, rather than days.”

Last night, it also emerged that police have been told about a masked darkhaired woman who was seen at Pret a Manger in the town centre moments before Col Skripal and his daughter were poisoned just a three minute walk away. Car dealer Mark Francis, 50, told the Daily Mail he informed officers that she was wearing a black Sars mask,