Salisbury poison probe ‘could take months’ as police scour 4,000 hours of CCTV

The investigation into the Salisbury nerve agent attack could take months, a senior police officer has said.

Police are still looking into the poisoning of former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal, 66, and his daughter, Yulia, 33, on March 4.

Assistant Commissioner for Counter Terrorism at the Metropolitan Police, Neil Basu, told the BBC: “This is going to be frustrating for people. It is going to take weeks, possibly months to do this.

“We are up to around 400 statements. We have got more statements to take. We are nearly at 800 exhibits and 4,000 hours of closed circuit television footage.”

Asked if the police focus was on the car involved in the case, Mr Basu said: “Our focus is on the movements of the Skripals, so we are open-minded and will follow that evidence wherever it takes us.

“It’s frustrating, I know, but it’s painstaking work and I would just like to pay tribute to the people who are working day and night.”

Meanwhile, on the day 23 expelled Russian diplomats were due to leave the UK, people could be seen heading towards a white coach parked inside the gated Kensington Palace Gardens complex in London close to the Russian Embassy.

Hugging each other, holding children, pet carriers, suitcases and bags, at just after 10am a number of individuals left in a procession of vehicles including three cars, five people carriers and two small-sized coaches.

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One woman could be seen filming the media which had gathered outside from front seat of a vehicle, as children could be seen excitedly looking out of the window of a coach as it pulled on to the main road.

On Friday the Russian Ambassador to the UK, Alexander Yakovenko, reportedly said the 23 diplomats and their families – some 80 people – would leave Britain on March 20.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has said he would still do business with Russia despite “all fingers” pointing towards the country being responsible for the Salisbury spy incident.

He has been forced to defend his stance on the attack after declining to categorically blame the Kremlin for the poisoning of Mr Skripal and his daughter.

Mr Corbyn’s earlier warning not to “rush ahead of the evidence” led to criticism from Conservatives and some Labour backbenchers, however he reiterated his call for Russia to be sent samples of the nerve agent to discover its source.

He told Radio 4’s World at One: “All fingers point towards Russia’s involvement in this, and obviously the manufacture of the material was undertaken by the Russian state originally.

“What I’m saying is the weapons were made from Russia, clearly.

“I think Russia has to be held responsible for it but there has to be an absolutely definitive answer to the question where did the nerve agent come from? I asked the Russians be given a sample so that they can say categorically one way or the other.”

Mr Skripal, a former double agent, and his daughter are still fighting for their lives after being exposed to Novichok in the Wiltshire city.

Shadow chancellor John McDonnell has previously said Labour agreed with Theresa May that Russia was responsible for the attack.

But Mr Corbyn maintained there had to be a relationship with Russia and said he would still “do business” with president Vladimir Putin if Labour came into power.

“Would I do business with Putin, sure? And I’d challenge him on human rights in Russia, challenge him on these issues and challenge him on that whole basis of that relationship,” he told the BBC.

On Monday, Mrs May hit back at Mr Putin’s dismissal of the British Government’s claim that Russia was responsible for the attack.

Her comments followed strong words from Boris Johnson, who accused Russia of trying to conceal “the needle of truth in a haystack of lies” over the case – after Mr Putin dismissed the idea of Russian responsibility as “nonsense”.