Inside UK’s top-secret Porton Down lab where plague, Covid and nerve agents are held

Nestled amongst rolling hills of English countryside, Porton Down’s stunning surroundings give little hint at the deadly secrets it holds.

The armed guards and police surrounding the high-containment scientific facility in Wiltshire however, certainly do.

Having opened in 1916 in response to Germany’s creation of Chlorine Gas during WWI, the UK developed its first ‘War Experimental Station’ – a top secret government laboratory that has since housed some of the world’s most deadly substances.

From vials of plague, where a few drops alone could kill hundreds of thousands, to coronavirus variants being tested for transmission rates and vaccine response – the 7,000 acre site, better known as Porton Down, is one of the most secure and secretive in the country.

And while the Chemical Weapons Convention saw a ban on the production and stockpiling of deadly pathogens in 1963, Porton Down is the only place in the UK permitted to create nerve agents – such as Anthrax, Chlorine Gas and Sarin – in order to develop protective responses to them.

The laboratory, a fortress of layer-upon-layer of high-security doors, keypads, cameras, and armed guards, has served as a hub for coronavirus studies – including how it transmits, mutates and responds to vaccines.

And scientists at the facility must be ready to react in real-time to changes in the UK’s coronavirus status.

In recent government briefings to the nation about the new South African variant of the virus, Heath Secretary Matt Hancock referenced the testing facility, saying: “Anyone in the UK who has been in South Africa in the past two weeks must quarantine immediately.

“These measures are temporary while we investigate further this new strain which is further to be analysed at Porton Down.”

While coronavirus has dominated the UK’s health headlines for a year, as well as much of Porton Down’s research work, in 2018, scientists there were faced with one of the UK’s gravest chemical emergencies – Novichok.

Three years ago today, Sergei Skripal, 66, and his daughter Yulia, 33, were poisoned with the nerve agent on a park bench in Salisbury.

Exposure also left Dawn Sturgess, 44, dead and her partner Charlie Rowley and Wiltshire Police Officer Det Sgt Nick Bailey seriously ill.

Novichok was developed by the Soviet Union between 1971 and 1993 and when Porton Down’s Professor Tim Atkins discovered its presence in the UK following the poisonings, he knew it was a matter for concern.

“My blood really went cold,” Prof Atkins said. “While I suspected a chemical had been involved – and clearly a toxic one – I don’t think I ever predicted that it would be something so hazardous.

“My mind turned to how am I going to explain to police what’s being used and what the likely consequences of such a hazardous material being released in a city are likely to be?”

Moscow has repeatedly denied any involvement, with President Vladimir Putin once claiming poisoning suspects Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov were simply civilians.

While Porton Down now works ‘defensively’ , with research solely focused on finding solutions to potential chemical threats – the laboratory has a darker history.

During the Second World War and Cold War, the centre was accused of carrying out ‘unethical’ human experiments.

It is alleged scientists at the facility treated humans as “guinea pigs” – often plucked from the armed forces and allegedly duped into taking part in tests.

In May 1953, RAF serviceman, Ronald Maddison died after liquid nerve has was dripped onto his arm.

It is also alleged between 1945 and 1989, Porton Down exposed more than 3,400 so-called human “guinea pigs” to nerve gas – making it probable that the UK centre for chemical warfare research has tested more human subjects for the longest period of time than any other equivalent laboratory in the world.