ThisisLondon.com reports that traces of the lethal radioactive poison which killed Russian dissident Alexander Litvinenko, have been found at four previously undisclosed sites, including a Mayfair lap dancing bar. The revelations come nine months after the former spy's murder and shed new light on the scale of the investigation into his death. The polonium-210 poison was found at the Hey Jo nightclub on Jermyn Street, on a shisha pipe in the West End restaurant Dar Marakesh, in a taxi and in Mr Litvinenko's Mercedes. (click on map to enlarge image)
Westminster council has disclosed that a total of 47 venues were checked, among them five buses, eight aircraft, eight hotels and seven restaurants. The Times Online, went on to describe the locations in more detail. Of the 47 venues, 21 were found to have traces of polonium, including two aircraft and four venues that have not previously been identified. The four were found to have very low levels of polonium210. They included Hey Jo, a lapdancing club frequented by Russian businessmen.The other new sites were Dar Marra-kesh, a Moroccan restaurant; Mr Litvinenko’s Mercedes car and a grey Mercedes taxi from Lambeth, South London.In the “gentlemen’s nightclub” Hey Jo, traces of polonium were found on seating, cushions and cubicle doors. These were then cleaned to reduce the levels of the substance. Two items in the Moroccan restaurant that displayed high levels of contamination, a fabric shisha pipe handle and a cushion cover, were removed. Mr Litvinenko’s car had high levels of contamination and a large bag of waste was removed from the Lambeth taxi to reduce polonium traces to safe levels. A spokesman for the HPA admitted that some of the sites, including the aircraft, took a long time to to investigate because seats were frequently changed round.
