THE prime suspects in the nerve agent poisoning investigation said they came to Salisbury to "see Stonehenge and Old Sarum".

Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov, who were named last Wednesday as the prime suspects in the Novichok attack after being identified in CCTV footage, appeared today on Russian state-sponsored media channel, RT.

The pair confirmed that it was them in the pictures released by counter-terror police, but denied any involvement in the attack on former spy Sergei Skripal in March.

Speaking to RT editor in chief Margarita Simonyan, Petrov said the pair had come to Salisbury on the first day "then went to a railway station to see the timetable".

He said they returned the following day but only had a short visit.

"We arrived in Salisbury and tried to walk through the town, but we lasted for only half an hour because it was covered in snow,” Petrov said.

“Of course, we went there to see Stonehenge, Old Sarum, but we couldn’t do it because there was muddy slush everywhere.

"The town was covered by this slush. We got wet, took the nearest train and came back [to London].”

And Boshirov said they were in the city for less than an hour, adding: "Maybe we did [approach] Skripal’s house, but we don’t know where is it located.”

When asked if they were carrying the counterfeit Nina Ricci perfume bottle believed to be the main container for the nerve agent, Boshirov said it would have been "silly" for the pair to have women's perfume on them.

He added: "The customs are checking everything, they would have questions as to why men have women’s perfume in their luggage. We didn’t have it.”