Police have said there is nothing to suggest that novichok is to blame for two people falling ill at a restaurant in Salisbury close to where Sergei and Yulia Skripal collapsed after being poisoned with the nerve agent.

On Sunday evening emergency services cordoned off part of the town after a man in his 40s and a woman in her 30s were taken ill in an Italian restaurant.

Wiltshire Police said they had been called to Prezzo by ambulance crews after a “medical incident” and had closed the restaurant and surrounding roads “as a precautionary measure”.

In the early hours of Monday, the force ended the “major incident status” and said both victims remained in hospital under observation.

“Due to recent events in the city and concerns that the pair had been exposed to an unknown substance, a highly precautionary approach was taken by all emergency services,” police said in a statement.

“Both were taken to Salisbury District Hospital and were clinically assessed. We can now confirm that there is nothing to suggest that Novichok is the substance.”

The statement continued: “At this stage it is not yet clear if a crime has been committed and enquiries remain ongoing. Salisbury District Hospital remains open as usual.

“A cordon will remain in place around Prezzo at this time as part of ongoing routine enquiries. All other areas that were cordoned off will now be reopened.”

A witness earlier claimed the pair were showing “the same symptoms” as the Skripals, who were poisoned by suspected Russian state assassins in March.

Amanda Worne tweeted: “Feeling a little apprehensive as Salisbury leaps to action again when 2 Russians are taken ill in Prezzos showing the same symptoms as before... AND WE WERE SITTING NEXT TO THEM! Now under police supervision waiting for medical team to give us the all clear!”

Ms Worne also wrote on Facebook of being caught up in “a major incident” after the pair seated near her were taken “seriously ill”.

“We are being taken to a safe place and may need blood tests at Salisbury hospital,” she added.

South Western Ambulance Service said it was called to the restaurant at 5.38pm and dispatched four ambulances including a hazardous area response team.

The patients were conscious and were being treated at the scene, a spokeswoman added.

A source briefed by the emergency services said medics alerted the police because the symptoms “seemed consistent with novichok poisoning”. However, the source stressed those symptoms could be caused by other reasons.

“The symptoms of novichok poisoning and particular types of narcotic abuse are very similar,” they added.

A witness who was in Prezzo at the time said one of those taken ill was a blonde woman. The man who the woman had been dining with was found having a fit in the toilet, the witness said.

“When she came back she was hysterical. She called paramedics and the next thing an ambulance turns up and they come rushing in,” they added.

A source told Sky News that one of the two taken ill was Russian.

Police cordoned off around the restaurant, on the corner of Salisbury High Street and pictures posted on social media showed a hazardous material suit in the area, while a police officer was seen in protective clothing with their face covered.

Public Health England was informed of the incident and firefighters were also sent to the scene.

Police release images of suspects in connection with Salisbury attack Show all 19 1 /19 Police release images of suspects in connection with Salisbury attack Police release images of suspects in connection with Salisbury attack CCTV – Salisbury train station The two suspects charged in relation to the attack on Sergei and Yulia Skripal at Salisbury train station at 16:11hrs on 03 March 2018 Metropolitan Police Police release images of suspects in connection with Salisbury attack Suspects Suspects Ruslan Boshirov and Alexander Petrov, Russian nationals, approximately 40 years old, who travelled on a Russian passport. It is likely that they were travelling under aliases and that these are not their real names Metropolitan Police Police release images of suspects in connection with Salisbury attack Evidence Bottle and applicator recovered by police from Charlie Rowley’s address in Muggleton Road Metropolitan Police Police release images of suspects in connection with Salisbury attack Evidence A counterfeit perfume box that was discovered by nerve agent victim Charlie Rowley, who later gave it, and the bottle inside, to his girlfriend Dawn Sturgess Metropolitan Police/AFP/Getty Police release images of suspects in connection with Salisbury attack Rowley has previously said he felt lucky to be alive after giving a perfume bottle that contained the nerve agent Novichok to his girlfriend Dawn Sturgess, who later died Metropolitan Police/AFP/Getty Police release images of suspects in connection with Salisbury attack Suspeccts The CPS has issued European Arrest Warrants for the extradition of 'Boshirov' and 'Petrov' in connection with the Novichok poisoning attack on Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in March Metropolitan Police/PA Police release images of suspects in connection with Salisbury attack CCTV – ‘Boshirov' at Gatwick airport Movements in detail - At 3pm on Friday, 2 March, the suspects arrived at Gatwick airport, having flown from Moscow on Aeroflot flight SU2588 Metropolitan Police Police release images of suspects in connection with Salisbury attack CCTV – ‘Petrov’ at Gatwick airport From the airport it is believed that they travelled by train into London, arriving at Victoria station at approximately 5.40pm Metropolitan Police Police release images of suspects in connection with Salisbury attack CCTV – Salisbury train station, 11:48hrs on 4 March 2018 They then travelled on London public transport to Waterloo station and were in the area between approximately 6pm and 7pm. They travelled to the City Stay Hotel in Bow Road, East London, where they stayed on Friday, 2 March, and Saturday, 3 March. On Saturday, 3 March, they left the hotel and took the underground to Waterloo station, arriving at approximately 11.45am, where they caught a train to Salisbury, arriving at approximately 2.25pm Metropolitan Police Police release images of suspects in connection with Salisbury attack City Stay Hotel in Bow Road Police officers stand outside the City Stay Hotel in Bow where on Sunday, 4 March, 'Boshirov' and 'Petrov' made the same journey from the hotel as they did the previous day, again using the underground from Bow to Waterloo station at approximately 8.05am, before continuing their journey by train to Salisbury Getty Police release images of suspects in connection with Salisbury attack CCTV – Wilton Road, Salisbury, 11:58hrs on 4 March 2018 CCTV shows them in the vicinity of Mr Skripal’s house and we believe that they contaminated the front door with Novichok Metropolitan Police Police release images of suspects in connection with Salisbury attack CCTV – Fisherton Road CCTV image of both suspects on Fisherton Road, Salisbury at 13:05hrs on 4 March, 2018 Metropolitan Police Police release images of suspects in connection with Salisbury attack CCTV – Salisbury train station, 13:50hrs on 4 March 2018 They left Salisbury and returned to Waterloo Station, arriving at approximately 4.45pm and boarded the London Underground at approximately 6.30pm to London Heathrow Airport Metropolitan Police Police release images of suspects in connection with Salisbury attack CCTV – Heathrow airport security, 19:28hrs on 4 March 2018 From Heathrow Airport, they returned to Moscow on Aeroflot flight SU2585, departing at 10.30pm Metropolitan Police/PA Police release images of suspects in connection with Salisbury attack Scene investigations The police investigation was carried out over 6 months. Ex-Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were found on March 4 in a critical condition on a bench outside the Maltings shopping centre in Salisbury AFP Police release images of suspects in connection with Salisbury attack Victims Former Russian spy Sergei Skripal, right, and his daughter Yulia Rex Police release images of suspects in connection with Salisbury attack Victims Detective Sergeant Nick Bailey who rushed to the aid of the Skripals was also taken to hospital in a serious condition after falling ill when attempting to help them PA Police release images of suspects in connection with Salisbury attack Victims Dawn Sturgess, a 44-year-old mother of three, died after falling ill when partner Charlie Rowley gave her a perfume bottle that contained the nerve agent Novichok Facebook/AFP/Getty Police release images of suspects in connection with Salisbury attack Scene investigations The home of Charlie Rowley in Muggleton Road, Amesbury, where he and Dawn Sturgess were exposed to the deadly nerve agent Novichok PA

Witness Sam Proudfoot, 16, said he saw a person in a hazardous material suit go between the restaurant and the ambulance.

“I’ve been told two people were taken ill in there,” the student said.

“There’s a man in a full white body suit with a mask to his mouth going in and out of the back of the ambulance and the restaurant.”

Tensions in Salisbury remain heightened following the poisoning of the Skripals and the death of Dawn Sturgess, 44, who came into contact with novichok found in a perfume bottle dumped in the city’s Queen Elizabeth Gardens.

The Prezzo restaurant just a few hundred yards from the branch of the Italian restaurant chain Zizzi where the Skripals fell ill. Investigators later established nerve agent was smeared on the front-door handle of his the former spy’s home on 4 March.

Salisbury city council leader Matthew Dean said “understandably people [were] concerned” about the “latest possible incident”, but cautioned there had been “a number of false alarms since the Skripal poisoning”.

“Rightly the emergency services start with a highly precautionary approach until they know otherwise,” he added.

Two Russian nationals identified and charged in relation to Salisbury attack

The Kremlin has repeatedly denied any involvement in the poisoning of the Skripals or Ms Sturgess, whose partner was left critically ill after finding the perfume bottle in the park.

The UK government has alleged military intelligence officers going by the names Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov attempted to murder the former MI6 information.

The two men last week appeared on Russian TV denying the accusation and insisting they had been visiting Salisbury as tourists.