Wiltshire pair poisoned by Novichok nerve agent

A man and woman found unconscious in Wiltshire were poisoned by Novichok - the same nerve agent that poisoned ex-Russian spy Sergei Skripal, police say.

The couple, believed to be Charlie Rowley and Dawn Sturgess, are in a critical condition having been found unconscious at a house on Saturday.

Police say no one else has presented with the same symptoms, BBC reports. 

There was "nothing in their background" to suggest the pair were targeted, the Met Police said.

Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu said it could not be confirmed whether the nerve agent came from the same batch that Mr Skripal, and his daughter Yulia, were exposed to.

But he said the possibility was "clearly a line of enquiry".

Mr Basu said no contaminated items had yet been found, but officers were putting together a "very detailed examination of [the couple's] movements" in order to determine where they were poisoned.

He added that members of the public should not pick anything up if they don't know what it is.

"We have no idea what may have contained the nerve agent at this time," he said.

The Counter Terrorism Policing Network is now leading the investigation, working with Wiltshire Police.

The BBC's security correspondent Gordon Corera said: "The most likely hypothesis is that this is leftover Novichok from the attack on the Skripals back in March."

England's chief medical officer, Sally Davies, said: "I want to reassure the public that the risk to the general public remains low."

The Skripal episode meant officials had a "well-established response" in place, she said.