PART of the English town of Salisbury — the scene of the Novichok nerve agent attack on a former Russian spy — has been sealed off after two people fell ill.

Wiltshire Police closed down Prezzo’s restaurant in central Salisbury on Sunday night London time after a man and a woman fell ill.

“Police were called by the ambulance service to Prezzo, High Street, Salisbury at 6.45pm (3.45am AEST Monday) today following a medical incident involving two people,’’ Wiltshire Police said in a statement released on Twitter.

“As a precautionary measure, the restaurant and surrounding roads have been cordoned off while officers attend the scene and establish the circumstances surrounding what has led them to fall ill.”

South Western Ambulance Service said it was called to the scene more than an hour earlier and dispatched four ambulances including a hazardous area response team.

A spokeswoman for the ambulance service said the patients were conscious at the last update and were being treated at the scene.

Roads were cordoned off around the Italian restaurant as police tried to determine what caused the couple to fall ill.

Public Health England was informed of the incident, while firefighters were also at the scene.

Witness Sam Proudfoot, 16, said he saw a person in a hazardous material suit go between the restaurant and the ambulance.

“I’ve been told two people were taken ill in there,” the student told reporters.

“There’s a man in a full white body suit with a mask to his mouth going in and out of the back of the ambulance and the restaurant.

“The police were interviewing a couple of dozen people.”

A witness in the nearby Cafe Rouge restaurant said they could see police bagging something up in the street outside.

SALISBURY AND NOVICHOK
Tensions are heightened in the cathedral city because of recent Novichok poisonings.

Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were critically injured in Salisbury in early March when the Soviet-era nerve agent was sprayed on the door of Mr Skripal’s home.

He was living quietly in the town after being granted asylum by the UK in a spy swap, following his arrest in Moscow for selling Russian secrets to the west.

He and his daughter were found unconscious on a park bench in central Salisbury after eating at the nearby Zizzis restaurant. A policeman who went to Mr Skripal’s home was also struck down by the nerve agent, but survived.

The Skripals spent weeks in hospital but ultimately survived and are now living in a secret location.

In June, local residents Charlie Rowley and Dawn Sturgess were also critically injured after finding a discarded perfume bottle in Salisbury. Ms Sturgess sprayed the substance inside the bottle on her wrists. While Mr Rowley eventually recovered, Ms Sturgess died.

Prezzo restaurant is a short walk from Queen Elizabeth Gardens, which was until recently closed off following the death of Ms Sturgess.

The case made headlines again last week when Scotland Yard revealed CCTV of two men, Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov, accused of being the would-be assassins who travelled from Moscow to carry out the attack on Mr Skripal.

Police said they carried the nerve agent from Moscow in a perfume bottle.

The men later appeared on Russian state TV and denied involvement, in a bizarre statement in which they claimed they were sports nutrition salesmen on holidays.