Parking free in Salisbury following nerve agent attack

Salisbury council has suspended parking charges in the town for the foreseeable future following the poisoning of the former Russian spy Sergei Skripal.

Locals and visitors will be able to park in Salisbury for free in a bid to encourage more people to visit the town where Mr Skripal,66, and his daughter Yulia,33, were poisoned with a Russian nerve agent.

Since the attack, local business have reported that they are struggling due to the place becoming a "ghost town" as people stay away from the area.

Baroness Scott OBE, leader of Wiltshire Council, said: "We know people are rightly concerned about Salisbury, and it is important we encourage residents and visitors to enjoy our beautiful and historic city and to promote that it is very much business as usual.

“We are working diligently with local and national agencies and the local MP John Glen to support the local community and businesses. We recognise that providing free car parking will help to increase the number of visitors and shopper footfall in the city centre.”

Local MP John Glen said he had been asking the council to scrap the charges for some time and was pleased that they had eventually agreed to offer free parking.

He said: “Over the past two weeks, I have visited many retailers and constituents in Salisbury’s city centre, and retailers have told me that they need more support during current challenging conditions.

“I have been making the case to Wiltshire Council over the past few days that we needed to make all their car parks free of charge to boost footfall.

“I’m very pleased they have taken this step and we need to do everything we can to help Salisbury bounce back as soon as possible. Salisbury is very much open and keen to see visitors from London!”

Police said on Tuesday that the investigation into the Salisbury poisoning is likely to go on for several more months as detectives continue to analyse the evidence.

Over 400 statements, nearly 800 items and 4,000 hours of CCTV are to be examined in an attempt to solve the case.

Met Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu said “This is a frustrating and painstaking investigation that it is going to take weeks, if not months.”

Mr Skripal, and Yulia, remain in a critical condition in hospital.