Nick Bailey was the first officer to approach the pair, who were seriously ill on a bench in a shopping centre

Sergeant Nick Bailey has been named as the police officer who was injured with a nerve agent when he went to the aid of a former Russian double agent and his daughter in a Salisbury shopping centre.

Sgt Bailey, of Wiltshire police, was seriously ill in hospital last night but was said to have slightly recovered and was talking with his family this morning.

He was one of the first on scene on Sunday afternoon when Sergei and Yulia Skripal were found collapsed on a bench in the Maltings shopping centre. Mark Rowley, the national head of counterterrorism, confirmed yesterday afternoon they were deliberately targeted with a nerve agent in a development that has heightened concerns of a state-sponsored assassination attempt.

Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia, left, outside his house in Salisbury with an unnamed woman

This morning Amber Rudd,…