Novichok attack victim Charlie Rowley's flat returned to housing association after decontamination

The flat where Dawn Sturgess was fatally poisoned with novichok has been decontaminated, leaving Sergei Skripal’s house as the last remaining place shut down after the attack.

The property in Amesbury was the home of her partner, Charlie Rowley, who survived contact with the nerve agent in June.

Police believe Mr Rowley had picked up the bottle of novichok, which was disguised as perfume, in Salisbury and given it to Ms Sturgess as a present.

The mother-of-three died days after applying the substance to her wrists and Mr Rowley was treated at Salisbury District Hospital.

Wiltshire Council said his former home had been handed back to Stonewater Housing, which manages social housing in the county.

It was not immediately clear whether new tenants would be moved into the first-floor flat.

"We'll now do a full assessment and start looking at the options for future use," a spokesperson for Stonewater Housing said.

The council said it had been declared safe by Defra following extensive cleaning and testing by specialist teams.

Alistair Cunningham, chair of the South Wiltshire Recovery Coordinating Group, said: “This is positive news for Amesbury and marks a return to normal, as all sites in the town have now been handed back to their owners following specialist cleaning.

“We recognise that there is still work to be done to increase visitor confidence and to continue to support local the local community.”

A spokesperson for Defra said Mr Rowley’s former home had been fully decontaminated.

Mr Skripal’s house has had its roof removed by military specialists as part of ongoing work to remove potential traces of nerve agent.

Officials said the cleaning process could take more than four months in Salisbury, where the former Russian double agent was poisoned with novichok in March.

Police believe GRU spies smeared the poison on Mr Skripal’s door, causing him to fall severely ill alongside his daughter Yulia, and a police officer who investigated the attack.

The three victims of the initial attack were successfully treated at Salisbury District Hospital.

A police investigation continues and Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick has said her officers will “never give up” trying to bring the culprits to justice.

Two GRU agents – Anatoliy Chepiga and Alexander Mishkin –​ were charged with launching the attack on Mr Skripal in September, but had flown back to Russia immediately after the attempted assassination.

Both men are subject to Interpol red notices and European Arrest Warrants, but the prospect of them leaving Russia or being extradited appears slim as the Kremlin continues to deny any involvement.

The suspects gave an interview to state media that generated global ridicule, after they claimed they were sports supplement salesmen who travelled to Salisbury two days in a row because of its “internationally famous” cathedral.

The same state-owned RT news channel sent chocolate models of Salisbury Cathedral to media outlets in December, and there was fresh condemnation this week over the release of a Russian board game called “Our Guys in Salisbury” where players follow the attackers’ journey.