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Salisbury was tonight at the centre of a new alert after police in hazmat suits descended on an Italian restaurant where a man and a woman had fallen ill.

The site - a Prezzo in the High Street - is just 300m from the Zizzi outlet where former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia ate before collapsing from Novichok poisoning in March.

Prezzo and the surrounding area is still sealed off while a number of pubs are on lockdown.

A source briefed by the emergency services told the Press Association that medics alerted the police because the symptoms were consistent with Novichok poisoning.

"The ambulance crew at the site took the decision that the symptoms seemed consistent with Novichok poisoning which is why they called their colleagues in the police," the source said.

But the source stressed: "The symptoms of Novhichok poisoning and particular types of narcotic abuse are very similar."

(Image: Solent News & Photo Agency) (Image: SWNS- Cambridge)

One diner claimed that the pair who had been taken ill were Russian though their identities have not been confirmed at this stage.

She said that she had been told she might need a blood test. Another witness described police 'covering someone up with a blanket'.

A diner also in Prezzo at the time of the incident described the scene as "like Armageddon".

(Image: Solent News & Photo Agency) (Image: SWNS- Cambridge)

The diner, who did not want to be named, told the BBC one of those taken ill was a blonde woman in her late twenties.

She claimed the woman appeared to be at a table on her own and kept going back and forth from where she was sat.

The witness told the BBC: "When she came back she was hysterical. She called paramedics and the next thing an ambulance turns up and they come rushing in."

According to this witness, the man who had taken ill was in the bathroom after having a fit.

"Suddenly we had sirens and it was like Armageddon," the diner added.

Another diner in the restaurant at the time says a woman was taken ill at around 6.05pm. He said she was "looking a bit worse for wear."

(Image: Solent News & Photo Agency) (Image: SWNS- Cambridge) (Image: SWNS- Cambridge)

A worker at nearby restaurant Thai Sarocha said: "We have been told to stay inside. Luckily there were no customers here at the time, but I am here with three members of staff.

"Nobody has told us when we can get out. I spoke to a paramedic who can't tell me what's going on, but I can guess.

"I am a bit scared, but I'm sure it will all be okay. I just want to go home."

Wiltshire Police said in a statement: "Police were called by the ambulance service to Prezzo, High Street, Salisbury, at 6.45pm today (16 September) following a medical incident involving two people - a man and a woman.

"As a precautionary measure, the restaurant and surrounding roads have been cordoned off while officers attend the scene and establish the circumstances surrounding what has led them to fall ill."

Four police cars, an ambulance and a fire engine are at the scene.

(Image: SWNS- Cambridge)

(Image: Solent News & Photo Agency)

(Image: SWNS- Cambridge)

(Image: @AmandaWorne/Twitter)

(Image: @samproudy01/Twitter)

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@AmandaWorne, who says she was sitting next to the pair who fell ill in Prezzo, tweeted "now under police supervision waiting for medical team to give us the all clear."

Amanda Newton wrote on Facebook: "How on earth did we get caught up in this!! A nice meal in Prezzo turns into a major incident as 2 Russians sitting next to us take seriously ill and the whole area is closed.... we are being taken to a safe place and may need blood tests at Salisbury hospital..... Will keep everyone updated ..... I'm sure we will be fine!! (sic)."

A worker from nearby restaurant Cosy Club said: "They've cordoned off the whole of New Street.

"There's currently six unmarked police cars, two fire engines, two ambulances and three marked police cars.

"People aren't exactly panicked. There's not a lot you can do."

(Image: @samproudy01/Twitter)

(Image: @samproudy01/Twitter)

A worker at nearby pub The New Inn added: "Police have been very vague about the whole thing. We don't know what's going on.

"As soon as the emergency services turned up people started evacuating. We've only got a few customers left."

Paul Downton, who works at The New Inn, told Mirror Online: "Nobody has been told anything - people are a bit worried and everyone has their suspicions.

"The emergency services are outside, and they said they are treating it as if it's what happened before."

Sam Proudfoot posted on Twitter: "Trouble in Salisbury again on New Street near the cathedral, no sign of what's happened but there's 1 fire engine, 1 ambulance and 4 police cars, a man in a full white body suit with a mouth-mask and police not allowed to tell us what's happening."

A woman who works at The Wig and Quill, in New Street, says the pub is not on lockdown but they are in a semi-cordoned off area.

"They won't tell us anything," she added.

South Western Ambulance Service said medics were first called at 5.38pm.

Four ambulances were sent including a hazardous area response team, a spokeswoman said.

The patients were conscious at the last update and were being treated at the scene, she added.

Public Health England said they had been made aware of the incident.

A shocked member of the public said the front entrance to Salisbury District Hospital was surrounded by fire engines.

David Taylor - who was bringing a patient in for treatment - said the accident and emergency department was moved to another floor.

He said on arrival they were met by security staff who guided them to the new A&E department.

"It was obviously a major incident. All the staff were under pressure but were brilliant," he said.

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The Skripals had visited a branch of Zizzi in Salisbury on the night they were found slumped on a park bench. The branch is about 300m away from the Prezzo restaurant which has been cordoned off today.

Mirror Online has attempted to contact Prezzo.

Wiltshire Police said anyone with information on the incident in Prezzo this evening should call 101 and quote log number 271 of 16 September.

Tonight's incident comes after two Russians accused of using Novichok in an effort to kill Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury gave an interview on Russian state-funded RT news channel this week.

Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov claimed they were visiting Salisbury cathedral on the day the Skripals were poisoned but had gone nearly two miles in the wrong direction.

Hours after their 30-minute whistlestop tour, they were on a plane back to Moscow, but denied the purpose of their trip was to assassinate Skripal.

In the interview, they denied working for the Russian intelligence service and claimed to be victims of a "fantastical coincidence".

They said they left the Wiltshire city because of heavy snow after half an hour.

But they have not explained why they were pictured walking together in Wilton Road, round the corner from Sergei Skripal's house, in the opposite direction to the cathedral.