Decontamination of Novichok victim Sergai Skripal's Salisbury home begins

The two men alleged to have been behind the poisoning have been identified as members of Russia's military intelligence service

A cordon is in place so that police investigations or clean-up work can be carried out safely (Getty)

Work is starting to decontaminate the home of Novichok poisoning victim Sergei Skripal.

The operation at the house in Christie Miller Road, Salisbury, is part of a scheduled programme of ongoing decontamination.

It is being planned and overseen by the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in partnership with Wiltshire council and carried out by specialist military teams.

The remediation work will start with ground preparation after which the team will remove items from the property.

After decontamination is undertaken at a site, further sampling is carried out to ensure the site is safe to be released.

A cordon is in place so that police investigations or clean-up work can be carried out safely and will remain in place until the decontamination has been completed.

Counter-terrorism officers believe the house is where Mr Skripal, a former Russian agent, and his daughter Yulia were contaminated with nerve agent on 4 March, after a high concentration of the chemical weapon was found on the front door.

The two men alleged to have been behind the March poisoning – Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov – have been identified by the UK as members of the GRU, Russia’s military intelligence service.

The Skripals were left critically ill after exposed to the military grade nerve agent, but were later released from hospital.

Press Association