The prime minister met the father of the novichok victim Dawn Sturgess, as part of a visit to Salisbury exactly a year after the nerve agent attack, the Guardian can reveal.

Theresa May also spoke to Sturgess’s partner, Charlie Rowley, who was poisoned after finding a fake perfume bottle containing novichok three months after the initial attack on the former Russian spy Sergei Skripal.

Stan Sturgess said the prime minister expressed her sorrow for what he and the rest of the family had been through since Dawn, a mother of three, fell fatally ill in June.

He told the Guardian: “She made it clear she wanted to know how we were all getting on, how we were coping. It was genuine concern. We didn’t talk about justice for Dawn. She asked if we were getting the support we needed and told us that if we needed anything else we should ask for it.”

Sturgess said it was the first time that someone from the government had spoken directly to the family. He said May asked specifically after Dawn’s 11-year-old daughter Grace, who lives with her grandparents. “She was concerned about how we were doing as family,” Sturgess said.

“I came away feeling I’m glad I went. She couldn’t give me any more information about what happened but it was reassuring that people that level are thinking of us. She knows we’re grieving. It wasn’t about getting justice. It was about speaking directly with the victims.”

The prime minister visited shops, chatted to people on the streets and spoke to local civic leaders and members of the emergency services during a tour of the city.

May called the 12-month anniversary of the attack an important milestone for Salisbury as it emerged from the shadow cast by the novichok attack on 4 March 2018.

“My thoughts today are very much with the victims, their friends and families,” she said. “They have shown remarkable strength, resilience and fortitude in the last year and I have no doubt will continue to do so. And today is a chance to acknowledge the spirit of the people of this city.”

The large police presence providing the security around May caused some residents to worry that another attack had taken place.

Shelly Brewer, a cleaner who asked the prime minister to pose for a selfie with her on High Street, said: “It doesn’t really feel safe. When I saw all the police I was like: ‘Oh, no, not again.’ I feel like it is going to happen again. I don’t feel the Russians believe they have won and they are very competitive. I do feel they will come back.”

Susi Mason, a shop owner and spokesperson for independent businesses in the city, told May the city still needed support. She said: “I thanked her for the support that we have had, but I made the point that we need continued support. We are not back on our feet yet.”

Twins Anne and Wendy Harris, 74, from Bournemouth, Dorset, discussed the sunny weather with the prime minister. They said they were reluctant to visit Salisbury in the weeks after the attack. “It is disgusting that innocent people got hurt,” Wendy said.

May also spoke to former neighbours of Skripal who lived behind a police cordon for almost a year as military experts worked to decontaminate his house in Christie Miller Road.

Pauline Church, Wiltshire council’s cabinet member for economic development and Salisbury recovery, said she felt there was more confidence in the city. “It’s been terrible but I think at the same time what can Salisbury do to make it bigger and better than it was before 4 March last year,” she said. “This could be Salisbury’s time. We’ve got attention on our city. We have to as a community really get behind that.”

That’s Bath, not Salisbury. At least the Russian poisoning suspects could recognise the correct church spire. pic.twitter.com/moXlDioDwk — Jim Waterson (@jimwaterson) March 4, 2019

Monday’s commemoration was not without a hitch. On No 10’s Twitter feed, May’s statement on Salisbury was illustrated with an image not of Salisbury cathedral, as was intended, but of a church spire in Bath, 40 miles away.