Agents chose hotel for its low-key status

THE London hotel where Russian agents Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Borishov stayed before allegedly conducting the Salisbury Novichok attack was probably selected because its low-key status meant they could go unnoticed.

Police have appealed for help from guests of the Citystay hotel in London, after it was revealed traces of the nerve agent were found in one of the rooms.

Petrov and Borishov checked into the two-star hotel on Bow Road in East London on March 2 and allegedly carried out the attack two days later. Anyone who stayed in the hotel between March and May is urged to contact police.

It was revealed yesterday that police did not search the hotel until May 4, two months after the murder attempt. The hotel’s nondescript nature and the fact it was not on an obvious route to Salisbury is thought to be the reason it took so long to arouse police interest.

Yesterday, a man behind the reception desk, who did not want to be named, said he didn’t recognise the faces of the two Russian men named by police.

“We have 70 people stay here a night, and that was six months ago, I don’t remember,” he said. A screen in reception played live video from CCTV cameras around the building, but according to the receptionist, recordings were not kept for longer than 10 days.

Outside the £50-a-night hotel, DI Rob Dodds said: “The hotel is open for business … there is no danger.”

The pair travelled from the hotel to Waterloo station on the District line, and on to Salisbury on Sunday March 4, when the attack was committed.

A Met spokesman said: “We carried out the tests in secret to ensure the public was safe while not alerting the suspects … Once we had identified that the men had stayed at the hotel, the room was placed under police control.”

Asst Commissioner Neil Basu, the national lead for counter terrorism policing, said: “Two swabs showed contamination of Novichok at levels below that which would cause concern for public health. In terms of those who stayed in the room … we have had no reports of any persons falling ill.”

A Citystay statement said: “The hotel is open for business … We are fully supporting the police investigation.”