Straight off Google?

Russians’ strange facts arouse suspicion

The would-be assassins appear to have concocted their story via a rapid Google search.

They parroted facts about “wonderful” Salisbury and its attractions that senior government sources described as “bizarre” and almost certainly from Wikipedia.

Petrov and Boshirov told RT, Russia’s state-funded television station, that they had gone to visit “Stonehenge, Old Sarum, the cathedral of the Virgin Mary”.

The inclusion of Old Sarum, which combines the ruins of a royal castle and cathedral within an Iron Age hill fort some three miles from the centre of Salisbury – not an attraction brimming with international tourists – left many scratching their heads.

Petrov said: “Our friends had been suggesting for a long time we visit this wonderful town. Its famous Salisbury cathedral, famous for its 123m spire … the clock … the oldest of its kind in the world that is still working.”

While the height of the spire and its ancient clock might be sources of local pride, many noted that few Russian sports nutritionists would know such facts.

However, they are the first facts that come up in a quick online search for Salisbury tourist attractions.

The pair claimed that, despite poor weather, they managed to visit Old Sarum as well as the cathedral.

The tourist information board in Salisbury could not say how many Russian visitors the town attracts, but Russia is part of its marketing strategy.

The men blamed terrible weather for their failure to see any sights on Saturday March 3, and said more snow the next day forced them to leave earlier than planned.

However, the Met Office said temperatures in the area reached a high of almost 6C that weekend.

Forecasts suggest the snow had all but gone by the Sunday, and no snow can be seen in the CCTV images of the pair roaming the streets. Victoria Ward