French police warn terror poison may be in UK

French police have warned their British counterparts that containers containing the deadly poison ricin may have been brought to Britain after being manufactured by an Islamist militant, the Observer reports.

French investigators have been trying to track down dozens of the small containers of ricin, suspected to have been made in a makeshift laboratory in Lyon by Menad Benchellali, who was arrested during police raids 18 months ago.

The ricin, which can kill in hours if inhaled, injected or ingested, is believed to have been stored in the form of a white powder in jars of face cream.

The paper reported that French sources said samples of the ricin allegedly produced by Benchellali had been found in Britain and that several jars were unaccounted for.