Sergei Skripal The nerve agent used to poison Sergei and Yulia Skripal in Salisbury was delivered in a liquid form, it has been revealed.
The Department for Environment said one primary location was targeted the Skripal’s Wiltshire home.
The details emerged as the department announced a major clean-up operation was under way across the city to bring a small number of potentially contaminated sites back into safe use for residents and tourists.
Sergei Skripal and Yulia Skripal were found collapsed on bench in Salisbury
The London Road cemetery, the mall where the pair were discovered unconscious, Zizzi and the Ashley Wood compound where the ex-spy’s red BMW 3 series was taken after the attack have been handed back over by the police invesigation.
The department’s chief scientific adviser Ian Boyd said: Our approach is based on the best scientific evidence and advice to ensure decontamination is carried out in a thorough and careful way.
Our number one priority is making these sites safe for the public, so they can be returned to use for the people of Salisbury.
Thanks to detailed information gathered during the police’s investigation, and our scientific understanding of how the agent works and is spread, we have been able to categorise the likely level of contamination at each site and are drawing up tailored plans.
A £2.5m fund has already been announced by ministers to support businesses, boost tourism and meet unexpected costs in the wake of the attack.
Last week, the Government’s national security adviser said Russian intelligence had been spying on the Skripals for at least five years.
Cyber experts from military intelligence agency the GRU targeted Yulia Skripal’s email accounts as far back as 2013, claimed Mark Sedwill, in a letter to NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg.
A programme set up in Russia in the 2000s trained personnel from special units in the use of chemical warfare agents, he said, including investigating how nerve agents could be administered through door handles.
Russia has continued to deny any involvement in the poisoning and accused Britain of abducting Ms Skripal, who has been discharged from hospital and taken to a secret secure location.
Mr Skripal, who is no longer in a critical condition is said to be making good progress and is also expected to be discharged in due course.