Salisbury Prezzo restaurant could SUE 'poisoned' couple if their Novichok claim is a hoax

The Salisbury restaurant at the centre of the latest nerve agent scare have threatened to sue a couple who collapsed inside their premises.

Anna Shapiro and her husband Alex King were in the restaurant on Sunday when they were taken ill.

They were rushed to Salisbury District Hospital amid fears they were the latest victims of poisoning in the historic city but later discharged after testing negative for Novichok.

Police have subsequently said they are considering if the incident was a hoax.

Prezzo insiders told the Times that the restaurant suffered lost earnings and damages to its reputation and was considering legal action.

Russian-born Shapiro, 30, is a model who told the Sun that ‘Vladimir Putin wants me dead’.

Mr King is reported to have once pulled off a prank that saw him infiltrate a meet-and-greet with the Prince Charles at a 2006 film premiere.

Witnesses described a scene like ‘Armageddon’ as police and emergency services, some wearing protective suits, rushed to the scene.

The incident came amid heightened tensions in Salisbury in the wake of the Novichok poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, in March.

The Prezzo restaurant is a short walk from Queen Elizabeth Gardens, which was until recently closed off after 44-year-old Dawn Sturgess was fatally poisoned by the nerve agent in June.

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Earlier this month, the British government named Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov as suspects in the poisonings.

They told Russian media they had visited Salisbury to see its ‘world-famous’ cathedral.