Amesbury: Counter-terror cops investigate after couple 'poisoned' and 'showing symptoms similar to Skripals'
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A couple who fell critically ill in Amesbury have been poisoned and are showing similar symptoms to former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter, it has been reported.
Samples of the mystery substance have been sent to the Government chemical weapons research laboratory at Porton Down, it is understood.
Counter terror police have joined the investigation after the man and woman, who are in their 40s, were found unconscious at a home in the Wiltshire town on Saturday evening.
It is just miles from the site where former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were poisoned in March, although police have said there is no evidence linking the two incidents.
Do you know the couple in Amesbury? Email webnews@mirror.co.uk.
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The Porton Down lab was used to identify the military-grade novichok nerve agent used in the attempted murder of the Skripals, who spent months in hospital and survived.
Counter-terrorism police are working with officers in Wiltshire after a major incident was declared, the Metropolitan Police said.
Workers in green suits were seen at the property where the man and woman were found, said neighbours.
In a statement, Scotland Yard said: "As you would expect, given the recent events in Salisbury, officers from the counter terrorism network are working jointly with colleagues from Wiltshire Police regarding the incident in Amesbury.
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"As Wiltshire Police have stated, they are keeping an open mind as to the circumstances surrounding the incident and will update the public as soon and as regularly as possible."
It is understood that tests are being carried out on the substance at the Government chemical weapons research laboratory at Porton Down.
The critically ill man and woman were poisoned, reported the Sun's Tom Newton Dunn, quoting unidentified defence sources.
Security bosses fear the couple may have been poisoned with the same batch of nerve agent used in the assassination attempt on the Skripals, as the couple are showing similar symptoms to those experienced by the ex-spy and his daughter, the report added.
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Neighbours said workers in green suits were at the property in Muggleton Road after the couple were found unconscious.
Officers were today patrolling the entrance to the block of flats where a back window has been smashed through.
Neighbours say the two people involved moved into the property last month .
The couple are believe to have attended a Amesbury Baptist Church hog roast and family fun fair hours before they were discovered and taken to hospital.
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The church is one of a number of locations in Amesbury and Salisbury which has been cordoned off by police, along with a Boots store in Amesbury and Queen Elizabeth Gardens in Salisbury.
Roy Collins, church secretary, said: "Last weekend we held a community fundraiser and we understand this may well be the last event this couple went to in public.
"We are all quite puzzled and shocked - naturally the connection with Salisbury and recent events there mean there is a heightened public interest.
"We are praying for the couple. One of our members knows them and clearly there are concerns for them and any others in the community.
"They are not church members or regulars."
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Mr Collins said around 200 people attended the event, including many families and children, but "nobody else has suffered any ill effects".
A Boots spokesperson said the store was closed as a "precautionary measure" at the request of police.
The property in Muggleton Road is around eight miles from where the Skripals were poisoned with a nerve agent in Salisbury, but it is not thought that the individuals are linked in any way to Russia or to the Skripals.
Wiltshire's Police and Crime Commissioner Angus Macpherson told the BBC there's no indication that the incident in Amesbury is connected to the Skripal case at present, and police have been working hard to contain "any risk that might be there".
He added: "I haven't seen anything in this incident yet that I would consider to be an overreaction, it all seems fairly textbook."
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Police initially thought that the couple had taken contaminated crack cocaine or heroin, but then decided to carry out further tests. Investigators say it is not yet clear if they were the victims of a crime.
The force declared a major incident on Wednesday.
A 200m cordon was put in place when emergency services arrived on Saturday.
A 'robot' was wheeled out of a white van and men in hazmat suits entered the flat.
LeeAnn Brady , who lives near Muggleton Road,said she was initially told Saturday evening's evacuation was down to a gas leak.
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She said: “I was told on the Saturday around half 6 in the evening that there was a gas leak and to close my windows. Nothing else was ever mentioned to us after that.
“But I haven’t seen any British Gas vans anywhere.”
A Government source said: "Senior Whitehall officials are being kept informed of what is going on on the ground as we seek to establish the facts of this case. No definitive conclusions have yet been established."
The man and woman from Amesbury are in a critical condition in Salisbury District Hospital.
Public Health England (PHE) said it did not believe there to be a "significant health risk" to the wider public, although its advice was being reviewed.
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The address where the couple were found is on a new housing development on the southern edge of the town, which lies close to Stonehenge.
Neighbours living near the scene were keen to find out more about what had happened to the couple.
College student Chloe Edwards described seeing police cars, fire engines and people in "green suits" on Saturday night.
"We saw everything," the 17-year-old, who lives near the cordoned-off flat, said. "We were just eating our dinner and all these emergency vehicles turned up.
"They were putting on these green suits and we thought it was the gas as our electricity was turned off as well."
Ms Edwards said the vehicles arrived at about 7pm and she and her family were told to stay inside their home until about 10pm.
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"We wanted to know what happened and with the Russian attack happening not long ago, and we just assumed the worst," she said.
"I am not sure how long they were in there but we couldn't get out of the house for two and a half hours."
A support unit from Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service was brought to the scene on Saturday, but the Swindon crew tweeted on Sunday that the incident "wasn't serious and our decontamination shower wasn't required".
Justin Doughty, who lives opposite the police cordon, said residents wanted more information from the police about what was happening.
"We don't know to be honest now, because is it linked to Salisbury or is it drug-related?" he said.
"None of us is being told anything by the police and it would be nice to know something.
"We would have thought the police would have been more forthcoming and keep us in the loop."
Salisbury District Hospital is "open as usual" and officials advised people to attend routine appointments unless they are contacted to do otherwise.
Mr Skripal, 67, and his 33-year-old daughter were left in a critical condition after they were found slumped on a bench in Salisbury city centre on March 4.
They spent weeks in Salisbury District Hospital, where they underwent treatment for suspected exposure to the Russian-created nerve agent Novichok.
The British Government has accused Russia of being behind the attack on Mr Skripal, who settled in the UK after a spy swap, but Moscow has denied the claims.