Detective Sergeant Nick Bailey (pictured), who was rushed to hospital following the incident, has now been discharged

The hero police officer who was left in critical condition after the Salisbury poisoning has said his life will never be the same again after he was discharged from hospital today.

Speaking about the incident for the first time, Detective Sergeant Nick Bailey, 38, said he has been 'overwhelmed' by events since he was rushed into care following his exposure to the nerve agent Novichok on March 4.

DS Bailey had rushed to provide assistance to Sergei Skripal, 66, and his daughter Yulia, 33 in Salisbury.

According to The Times, it is claimed Yulia briefly regained consciousness after being rushed into hospital along with her father.

Upon DS Bailey's release from hospital, Chief Constable of Wiltshire Police Keir Pritchard described the experience of his officer as 'completely surreal'.

Reading a statement on behalf of DS Bailey, Mr Pritchard said: 'I recognise that "normal" life for me will probably never be the same - and Sarah and I now need to focus on finding a new normal for us and for our children.'

It comes as doctors were granted permission to take blood samples from the unconscious Sergei Skripal and daughter Yulia, who a judge said may never regain full mental capacity.

In his statement, DS Bailey went on: 'People ask me how I am feeling - but there are really no words to explain how I feel right now.'

He added: 'I have spent all my time since the incident really focusing on trying to get better and trying not to think about anything else.

'But as I have begun to feel better, I have become aware of the widespread and enormous attention this whole incident has attracted.

'I find this really overwhelming - I am just a normal person with a normal life, and I don't want my wife, children, family or I to be part of that attention. I do hope the public can understand that.'

In a separate statement, DS Bailey's wife Sarah said that her 'hero' husband's poisoning had been 'the most traumatic event of our life'.

A judge has given doctors the go-ahead to take blood samples from Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia for testing by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons

In a statement read by Wiltshire Police Chief Constable Kier Pritchard (left) today, DS Bailey (right) explained that the experience of his poisoning had been 'completely surreal'

Chief executive of Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust Cara Charles-Barks (left, centre) said that for reasons of patient confidentiality there would be no discussion of DS Bailey's condition. The Skripals (right), however, are still in critical condition, she said

She added: 'It feels like our world has been turned upside down in a really short space of time.

'I am so grateful for the support from our immediate family and friends and the police family liaison officers through this last few weeks - I really don't know how I would have coped without them.

'Nick doesn't like the term hero, but he has always been a hero to me and our children.'

Chief executive of Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust Cara Charles-Barks, who also spoke at the press conference outside Salisbury District Hospital today, said that for reasons of patient confidentiality there would be no further discussion of DS Bailey's condition. She also said the Skripals remained in a critical but stable condition.

DS Bailey, a father of two, had spent almost three weeks in hospital after coming into contact with the Novichok nerve agent used to try to kill former double agent Sergei and his daughter Yulia.

While being looked after his home was sealed off by forensic teams in Hazmat suits searching for more traces of the deadly nerve agent. His car was also taken away for examination at the Porton Down facility.

'I have been so very overwhelmed by the support, cards and messages I have received - everyone has been so incredible,' DS Bailey added.

Salisbury NHS Trust chief Ms Charles-Barks also said 48 other people sought advice from the hospital after the nerve agent attack and have been assessed and given advice.

It came after senior judge Mr Justice Williams made a key ruling in the Court of Protection allowing medics to take blood samples from the Skripals without consent, but also added that the duo may never regain their full mental capacity.

Giving his ruling, Mr Justice Williams said an unidentified consultant who is treating the Skripals said they were both heavily sedated, unable to communicate and that it was not possible to say when or to what extent either may regain mental capacity.

Investigators work in the garden of Sergei Skripal's house in Salisbury. A taped checklist can be seen on the back of one of the workers

Investigators in breathing apparatus were seen in Mr Skripal's back garden today

The military and anti-terror experts are scouring the property for traces of the nerve agent

They were both in a physically stable condition and were being treated 'on the basis they would wish to be kept alive', the consultant said, according to Williams' ruling at the London's Court of Protection, which makes decision over the welfare of people who are unable to do so themselves.

'The precise effect of their exposure on their long term health remains unclear albeit medical tests indicate that their mental capacity might be compromised to an unknown and so far unascertained degree,' Williams said in his judgement.

Mr Justice Williams, who is based in the Family Division of the High Court in London, announced his decision today after analysing the case at a private hearing earlier this week.

He said doctors at Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust could provide blood samples to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).

He also said trust bosses could also provide copies of medical notes to the OPCW.

The judge said he had concluded that such moves were in the best interests of Mr and Ms Skripal.

During the later press conference outside Salisbury District Hospital today, meanwhile, Wiltshire Police Chief Constable Kier Pritchard read a short statement from DS Bailey.

Police in gas masks start to remove their protective overalls at Ashley Wood Recovery in Salisbury where the car belonging to former Russian spy Sergei Skripal

The officer said: 'Some days we've had about 300 messages from officers, the wider police family and the public.

'The level of support has been unbelievable and I've tried to respond to what I can, but I want to say I have really appreciated every single message.'

He added: 'All the stories of community spirit - from the local businesses providing food and hot drinks to the officers standing for endless hours on the cordons, to the members of the public just showing their support for our work - have been quite simply overwhelming to hear about.

'I want to pay tribute and give my absolute and heartfelt thanks to the staff of Salisbury District Hospital. The care I have received from the medical staff has been simply outstanding from day one - from the man that cleans the floor to the doctors giving the treatment - they have all been absolutely phenomenal.

'Thank you just doesn't seem enough and just doesn't convey the gratitude I feel for what they have done for me.'

He added: 'I want people to focus on the investigation - not the police officer who was unfortunate enough to be caught up in it.'

The ruling came as it emerged a second police officer who was investigating the Salisbury nerve agent attack is being treated in hospital for suspected poisoning.

The uniformed PC is understood to have developed minor symptoms, including skin irritation, and is receiving treatment as an outpatient.

He is said to have come into contact with an object that possibly had 'secondary contamination'.

Police in protective suits at The Maltings shopping centre, where former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were found poisoned (left) and in Alderholt, British military personnel are seen carrying plastic drums as the investigation continues (right)

A source told MailOnline: 'The second officer is showing potential signs of poisoning but they are very minor and not at all on the same scale as DS Bailey and the Skripals.

'At this stage it is unclear how he became ill but it is possible that he came into contact accidentally with an object that could have had some secondary contamination.

'He is receiving treatment at Salisbury General Hospital as an outpatient as his symptoms are not serious enough to warrant him being kept in.'

Skripal, 66 and his 33-year-old daughter were found slumped on a bench in Salisbury, Wilsthire on March 4 after they had gone out for a drink and a meal at an Italian restaurant.

EU unites behind May over Russia: 'No plausible explanation' other than Kremlin was responsible for 'grave' Salisbury nerve agent attack Theresa May and EU leaders today agreed to stand together against Russia in the wake of the 'reckless' Salisbury nerve agent outrage, which they said represented a 'grave challenge to our shared security'. The decision came after Mrs May gave EU leaders at the European Council summit in Brussels a detailed account of the evidence which led the UK to point the finger of blame at Moscow. European Council president Donald Tusk wrote on Twitter: 'European Council agrees with UK government that highly likely Russia is responsible for Salisbury attack and that there is no other plausible explanation.' The announcement came as reports suggested that as many as five EU countries - France, Poland and the three Baltic states - are considering following Britain's lead by expelling suspected Russian spies. Prime Minister Theresa May has met with French president Emmanuel Macron and German chancellor Angela Merkel to update them on the Salisbury poisoning Leaders of the 28 EU states agreed with the UK that it is 'highly likely' Russia is responsible for the Salisbury nerve agent attack, European Council president Donald Tusk (pictured) has said Theresa May chatted with French President Emmanuel Macron as she arrived at the EU summit where leaders are expected to rubber stamp the Brexit deal Foreign ministers of the 28-nation bloc issued a statement on Monday voicing 'unqualified solidarity' with the UK, but stopping short of pointing the finger of blame at Moscow for the March 4 attack on ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia. Mrs May had earlier spoken separately with French president Emmanuel Macron and German chancellor Angela Merkel at the summit in Brussels, where the trio agreed there was 'no plausible explanation other than that the Russian state was responsible' for the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal. At a press conference in Brussels, European Council president Donald Tusk and Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker dodged a question of whether they shared Britain's assessment that Russia is now 'a strategic enemy, not a strategic partner', saying only that the Salisbury attack would be discussed later. But several EU leaders, including Angela Merkel, voiced solidarity with the UK. Theresa May also chatted with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who she is pressing to take a tough stand on Russia in the wake of the Salisbury poison case Lithuania's president Dalia Grybauskaite said she was considering following Britain's lead by expelling Russian spies from her country. Resistance to a firmer line with Moscow was apparently coming from Greece, whose prime minister Alexis Tsipras said: 'We have to express solidarity to the British people for the Salisbury case, but we also need to be responsible on that issue.' Arriving at the summit, Mrs May said she would tell fellow leaders that she sees the attack on Mr Skripal as part of a pattern of Russian aggression which threatens the continent's democracies and requires a united response. Wearing a white ribbon in commemoration of terror attacks in Westminster and Brussels, the Prime Minister said: 'Russia staged a brazen and reckless attack against the United Kingdom when it attempted the murder of two people in the streets of Salisbury. The text of a statement on the Salisbury attack agreed by the leaders of the EU's 28 member states at the European Council summit in Brussels read: 'The European Council condemns in the strongest possible terms the recent attack in Salisbury, expresses its deepest sympathies to all whose lives have been threatened and lends its support to the ongoing investigation. 'It agrees with the United Kingdom Government's assessment that it is highly likely that the Russian Federation is responsible and that there is no plausible alternative explanation. We stand in unqualified solidarity with the United Kingdom in the face of this grave challenge to our shared security. 'The use of chemical weapons, including the use of any toxic chemicals as weapons under any circumstances, is completely unacceptable, must be systematically and rigorously condemned and constitutes a security threat to us all.' Advertisement

They had been exposed to a powerful nerve agent developed in Russia called Novichok. The Russian government has been blamed for the attack.

Intelligence officials in the US believe they were possibly exposed to the nerve agent though Skripal's car ventilation system.

However, counter-terror officers from the Metropolitan Police, who are leading the investigation, are working on one strong line of inquiry that Yulia unwittingly brought over a contaminated item from Moscow.

They believe that item could have been opened at Skripal's home.

The huge police operation is to continue in Salisbury for several months as officers comb through various sites across the city.

It has been reported that the vast scale of the investigation has meant that biochemical suits worn by terror officers are running low because they have to be removed every three hours and destroyed.

However, MailOnline understands that police are to appeal for a higher grade of suite that affords greater protection because of the presence of novichok.

The source said: 'The suits worn by police at the moment are fine for the investigations they are used to like raiding drug laboratories or handling more basic chemicals used by suspected terrorists.

'Novichoc, however, is a level up from what they are used to. This is a seriously dangerous nerve agent most likely made in a state-run laboratory somewhere in Russia.

'As a result police chiefs are going to request a higher spec of biochemical suit, more like the ones used by the military, to be given to those officers in Salisbury to give them greater protection.'

Counter-terror officers from the Metropolitan Police, who are leading the probe, are working on one line of inquiry that Yulia unwittingly brought over a contaminated item from Moscow

The clean-up in Salisbury will also take several months because novichok was designed specifically to avoid detection by chemical weapons inspectors.

It cannot be identified via hand-held chemical detection equipment or spray solutions normally used by the police to check if a toxic chemical is present.

Forensic teams will have to instead painstakingly swab every surface in areas of potential contamination before the public are allowed back.

Several cordons have sprung up across the city of Salisbury in Wiltshire after Skripal and Yulia were poisoned on March 4.

Sites of interest include The Mill pub, a branch of Italian chain restaurant Zizzi, Skripal's home and the cemetery where his wife and son have been buried.

Forensic teams will have to instead painstakingly swab every surface in areas of potential contamination before the public are allowed back

The clean-up in Salisbury will also take several months because novichok was designed specifically to avoid detection by chemical weapons inspectors

There are also fears that stocks of bio-chemical suits used by the police are getting low and they may have to call upon the military for help.

The source added: 'Novichok was developed by scientists especially to evade detection from weapons inspectors.

'That means that detectors carried by police to protect them from chemical and industrial toxic agents in drug and terror operations will be useless in this case.

'So too is the spray solution officers use which changes colour to indicate the presence of a harmful chemical.

'The only way the police can make sure an area of potential contamination does not pose a residual risk to the public is by swabbing every surface.

'Given the extent of this operation, the number of potentially contaminated sites that have been sealed off, it is likely to be a very thorough process that could take several months.

'Clearly senior officers will be aware of the impact this will have on business and commerce in Salisbury as well as the disruption to shoppers and they will work to prioritise sites.

'The problem is that Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) incidents are typically used to one site which takes a few days to assess.

It is claimed that the scale of the investigation has meant that biochemical suits worn by terror officers are running low because they have to be removed every three hours and destroyed

'On this occasion there are several sites which are taking many days to investigate, so much so that stocks of bio-chemical suits used by the police are in danger of running low.

'In that incidence, either the military will have to take over or the police forensics teams will have to use their suits.'

Traders in Salisbury have reported significant losses because shoppers are too scared to come into the city centre.

Daniel Styles, who runs a popular flower stall, told Spire FM how he had been left £9,000 down over the Mother's Day weekend.

He told the local radio station: 'It's normally one of the biggest weekends of the year for us, we make quite a large amount of money that carries us through the year.

'We normally make around £12,000 and we only made £2-3,000.'