Father and son arrested in UK anti-terror ricin scare

A father and son are being questioned as part of an anti-terrorism operation after a substance suspected of containing the deadly poison ricin was found in a house in northern England, police said today.

The men, aged 41 and 18, were arrested on Tuesday on suspicion of being involved in a far-right group.

Ricin can cause death from exposure to as little as a pinhead amount. Most victims die between 36 hours and 72 hours after exposure and there is no known antidote.

Police said the substance, found in a sealed jamjar in the kitchen of the terraced house in Burnopfield, north west Durham, on Tuesday, could have been there for up to two years.

The area has been cordoned off as a precaution but neighbours have been told not to evacuate their homes.

Specialists from the Ministry of Defence science establishment at Porton Down were due in Durham to discuss the safe transfer of the substance to laboratories for more tests.

"I would again like to reassure people in Burnopfield that the substance found was sealed in an airtight container prior to its removal," said Assistant Chief Constable Mike Barton of Durham Police in a statement.

"We do not believe that there is any risk to public health."

The most famous case of ricin poisoning was in 1978 when dissident Bulgarian writer Georgi Markov was killed when a passerby in London jabbed him with an umbrella that injected a tiny ricin-filled pellet.