£900,000 bill for replacing Novichok attack 999 vehicles

EMERGENCY services have been forced to scrap and replace 16 police cars and eight ambulances following the Salisbury Novichok attack, costing nearly £1 million.

South Western Ambulance Service (SWAS) and Wiltshire Police spent £891,922 disposing of and replacing 24 vehicles used between March and July last year, freedom of information figures reveal.

Sergei Skripal, 66, his daughter Yulia, 33, were taken to hospital after the attack on March 4, last year. Four months later, paramedics were called into action again when Dawn Sturgess, a local woman, found the perfume bottle containing the Novichok and later died.

Both attacks have forced police to destroy and replace 16 vehicles, including three Mercedes Sprinter 519 CDI ambulances, with one worth £137,318, a second costing £56,673 and third £56,506. The ambulance service also had to destroy five Skoda Octavia 4x4s, costing a combined £93,334.

Angus Mcpherson, Wiltshire Police and Crime Commissioner, said: “When an operational response is of the scale that Wiltshire Police’s was, it is no surprise that there were significant costs involved with the operations. These cost more than 10 per cent of Wiltshire Police’s annual policing budget.”

Both SWAS and the police force confirmed they would be able to recoup the losses from the Government.

SWAS added: “Three double-crewed ambulances and four rapid response vehicles … were disposed of safely.”