The vehicle used to pick up Yulia Skripal from Heathrow when she arrived in the UK from Moscow has been seized by the military for forensic testing.

The development suggests that detectives believe the Novichok nerve agent used to poison both the 33-year-old and her father, Russian spy Sergei Skripal, a fortnight ago may have been unwittingly carried over by her from Russia the previous day.

Barely 24 hours later, the pair were found on a bench in the centre of Salisbury in a catatonic state.

Miss Skripal was picked up from the airport on Saturday March 3 by Ross Cassidy, one of Col Skripal's closest friends, who drove her back to her father's house in Salisbury.

Intelligence officers have suggested that the toxin may have been hidden in her luggage, either impregnated in an item of clothing or cosmetics or else in a gift, meaning Miss Skripal was deliberately targeted to get at her father.

Mr Cassidy confirmed when contacted by The Telegraph that his pick-up truck had been seized at the concrete plant in Amesbury where he works.