Litter picking advice following Salisbury novichok incident updated
The UK Heath Security Agency says the risk is 'negligible'
Nearly seven years after the novichok incident in Salisbury, the advice on picking up litter has finally been updated by the UK Health Security Agency.
In a letter to local councillors, the body's said there's 'negligible risk' that the public could exposed to the nerve agent.
The message of 'if you didn't drop it, don't pick it up' was brought in after the incident in 2018, to help protect against further traces being discovered.
The new guidance from Professor Dominic Mellon, the South West lead at UKHSA, says Salisbury is now in line with the rest of England when it comes to litter picking.
It says: "The public health risk assessment concludes that there is considered to be a negligible risk to the general population and negligible to low risk to individuals involved in litter picking activities, which can be further mitigated through the application of routine health and safety precautions recommended by national and local stakeholders, including the Keep Britain Tidy campaign and Wiltshire Council.
"Advice for residents in Salisbury will thus be brought into line with the rest of England."