Painstaking process is being carried out by military teams with specialist contractors

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

A meticulous decontaminating process is under way in the house in Salisbury where the former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were attacked with a nerve agent.

Over the coming days, weeks and possibly months, military and civilian specialists, some in protective suits, will work at the house where the Skripals were poisoned with military-grade novichok.

Neighbours have been given the opportunity by Wiltshire council to move out while the house is decontaminated but have decided to stay put. The council has also consulted the Skripals over the cleanup.

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The work, which is taking place six months after the attack, is being planned and overseen by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) in partnership with the council.

Military teams are expected to be supported by specialist contractors who have the expertise to remove any traces of contamination.

The work programme is expected to include:

• remediation work starting with ground preparation, after which the team will remove items from the property;

• a container placed on the road for items from the property to be removed;

• after decontamination, further sampling will be carried out to ensure the site is safe to be released.

A source said the process would be “thorough but as least destructive as possible”. The source said: “We are taking a meticulous and thorough approach to ensure people can be fully confident that all the sites are safe.

“As with other sites, a cordon is in place so that police investigations or cleanup work can be carried out safely. The cordon in Christie Miller Road will remain until the site has been thoroughly decontaminated and we are confident it has been made safe.”

The house will not be released before a thorough assessment by the government’s decontamination science assurance group to ensure there is no foreseeable ongoing risk of exposure.

Police have said the Skripals were poisoned by novichok that had been applied to the front door.

There has been speculation that the house may be knocked down but it is not believed a final decision has been made on its long-term future.

The advice from Public Health England continues to be that the risk to the public in Salisbury and Amesbury, where the couple Charlie Rowley and Dawn Sturgess were also exposed to novichok, remains low.



