Hundreds of people who visited the pub and restaurant in Salisbury where the Russian spy Sergei Skripal may have been poisoned have been warned to wash their clothes and possessions.
The announcement from Public Health England is aimed at as many as 500 customers who ate at Zizzi restaurant or were in the Mill pub last Sunday and Monday.
The public health notice says that although the risk is very low repeated contact with clothing or items exposed to the nerve agent could be a danger.
The statement said: “While there is no immediate health risk to anyone who may have been in either of these locations, it is possible, but unlikely, that any of the substance which has come into contact with clothing or belongings could still be present in minute amounts and therefore contaminate your skin. Over time, repeated skin contact with contaminated items may pose a small risk to health.”
It recommends reducing the risks in several ways. “Wash the clothing that you were wearing in an ordinary machine using your regular detergent at the temperature recommended for the clothing
“Any items which cannot be washed, and which would normally be dry cleaned, should be put in two plastic bags tied at the top and stored safely in your own home.
“Wipe personal items such as phones, handbags and other electronic items with cleansing or baby wipes and dispose of the wipes in the bin (ordinary domestic waste disposal).
“Other items such as jewellery and spectacles which cannot go in the washing machine or be cleaned with cleansing or baby wipes should be hand washed with warm water and detergent and then rinsed with clean, cold water.”
Public Health England issued the advice as a precaution, but said the risk to the general public remained low. Prof Dame Sally Davies, the chief medical officer of England, describing it as a “belt and braces” approach, said: “The risk to the general public remains low and I am confident none of these customers or staff will have suffered harm.”
Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, who is also critically ill, ate in the restaurant hours before they were found unconscious last Sunday. On Monday, Wiltshire police said the restaurant, on Castle Street, had been closed as a precaution, and it remains cordoned off.
An ongoing forensic examination uncovered the substance in Zizzi, according to the BBC, which reported that no one else who was in the restaurant at the same time as the Skripals was believed to be in danger. It also said there was no suggestion that any diners were connected to the nerve agent.
The Metropolitan police, who are leading the investigation, refused to comment on the BBC report.
The Home Secretary, Amber Rudd, has said police have identified more than 240 witnesses and 200 pieces of evidence. The ministry of defence said armed forces personnel would be returning to Salisbury to assist for a third day yesterday.
Officers in hazmat suits have been examining the grave of Skripal’s wife and a memorial to his son which are next to each other in a Salisbury cemetery. Scotland Yard said no exhumations had taken place and it is understood there has been no application to the ministry of justice to permit such a move. This may indicate that police do not yet have sufficient evidence to substantiate suggestions that either died by foul means.
It has previously been reported that Liudmila died of cancer in 2012 aged 59, while Alexander Skripal died in March last year in St Petersburg, aged 43, in unknown circumstances.
While Rudd has said it is too early to say who is responsible for the attack, suspicion has fallen on the Russian state. The Kremlin has strongly denied culpability but the Foreign Secretary, Boris Johnson, has already warned that if the UK finds evidence of Russian involvement then a robust response will be forthcoming.