Public security

It's NOT novichok, say police: 'Russian' couple fall ill at Salisbury restaurant with nerve-agent symptoms sparking panic as police in hazmat suits keep terrified diners in isolation for HOURS before giving the all-clear

A couple fell ill in a Salisbury restaurant last night with symptoms similar to novichok poisoning, sparking panic among diners who were kept in isolation for hours by police who were unsure of the severity of the incident.

The all-clear was given in the early hours of this morning as experts determined the nerve agent was not present - but the cordon remained in place at Prezzo, the restaurant at the centre of the drama, as officers continued working to see if a crime had been committed there.

It was still unclear what had caused the two diners - a man in his 40s and woman in her 30s - to fall ill.  

There's a suggestion that one of the pair are Russian, according to witnesses in the restaurant and a source at the scene.

The fact the restaurant is just 300 yards from Zizzi, where ex-Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia ate the day they were poisoned with novichok, heightened the tensions.

Witnesses to last night's drama told how a female diner was 'hysterical' after discovering her dining partner had collapsed in the Italian restaurant's toilets and was suffering a fit.