'MANY lethal doses' of Novichok were applied to the Skripals door handle, the inquiry has heard.

At the Dawn Sturgess Public Inquiry on November 12, witness 'MK26' from Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) said that a sample the size of “a third to a sixth of a grain of salt” of the Novichok chemical used in the poisonings could have proved to be a fatal dose for a human.

The DSTL witness, based in the Porton Down area of the county, said very few people would have been capable of producing the Novichok used in the attack safely because it is “highly hazardous in small quantities”.

READ MORE: Ex-medical chief recalls meeting with Gove after poisoning

Chairman of the inquiry Lord Hughes made a restriction order, giving anonymity to the witness, which counsel to the inquiry Andrew O’Connor said included their gender.

MK26, who has worked as a research scientists for 20 years, added that the “competence of the scientists working with (the Novichok) would need to be extremely advanced”.

The witness said samples of the nerve agent were taken from Mr Skripal’s door handle 12 days after the poisonings, with rainwater and snow potentially affecting its concentration levels.

'Many lethal doses' of Novichok were found on the Skripals' door handle'Many lethal doses' of Novichok were found on the Skripals' door handle (Image: Andrew Matthews/PA)

They told the inquiry: “After many days of weathering, with the contamination found throughout the locations visited in Salisbury that afternoon by the Skripals, suggests that it is highly likely that there were many lethal doses of the highly toxic specific Novichok applied to the door handle.”

The nerve agent had a concentration level of 97-98 per cent, the witness said.

Speaking about the events of 2018, MK26 said: “We had a lot of staff here (at Porton Down) offering technical support.

“The operations room was running 24/7. I haven’t seen this level of activity any time before that or since and I hope I never do again.

“We’re very committed to supporting the safety of the public primarily but also the police with the investigation that followed, and I would also say that it felt very personal.

“It was obviously very close to Porton Down – the majority of staff were living in and around Salisbury or Amesbury when it came to Amesbury and it couldn’t have had any more impact on the people involved than it actually did.

“Obviously, then when Dawn Sturgess sadly passed away, it highlighted to us how dreadful it had been and we were all really sorry that that happened.”

The inquiry continues until December 2.