Radiation has been found at the British Embassy in Moscow, it emerged yesterday. On Monday, officials said a room there would be tested as a precaution after former KGB bodyguard Andrei Lugovoi went there to deny involvement in poisoning Alexander Litvinenko. Mr Lugovoi and another Russian businessman reportedly met former spy Mr Litvinenko at the Millennium Hotel in Grosvenor Square, Mayfair, on November 1, the day he was apparently poisoned.
A spokesman said: 'A team of experts have concluded a precautionary check of the British Embassy.
'They have found no danger to public health. Small traces of radiation were found below levels that present a risk to health. The embassy is working as normal. There is no cause for concern.'
The development came as the Italian academic who met Mr Litvinenko on the day he was allegedly poisoned was discharged from hospital. Mario Scaramella had been treated at University College Hospital in London after testing positive for polonium 210 - the same radioactive toxin that is thought to have killed 43-year-old Mr Litvinenko. A hospital spokesman said Mr Scaramella had been discharged and was showing no symptoms of radiation poisoning.