A councillor quizzed health officials about the safety of Kent’s cathedral cities following the nerve agent attack on former Russian spy Sergei Skripal in Salisbury.

Cllr Catherine Rankin asked if the county is “properly prepared if there were to be a biological attack at our cathedral cities” at Kent County Council’s health reform and public health cabinet committee yesterday.

The boss of public health in the Kent has said the NHS is working “behind the scenes” to track down who has been exposed to the nerve agent Novichok.

Kent Police is asking residents to “be vigilant” but says there is no sign of a threat to the county at the moment.

Today, the Prime Minister said she would expel 23 Russian diplomats who have been identified as undeclared intelligence officers following the Salisbury attack on March 4.

Cllr Rankin said: “Knowing what’s gone on, could we learn from what happened in Salisbury or do you think that we are already there and we would have reacted in the same way?

“Obviously it is incredibly rare and therefore we should learn as much as we can from that.”

Boss of public health at KCC, Andrew Scott-Clark, assured the council “a lot is going on behind the scenes” to ensure the aftermath of the attack is kept to a minimum.

He said: “Part of my role is making sure that [everyone involved] is doing what they should and I can assure you that there are communications right across the system because, of course, it’s not only the people in Salisbury that could have been exposed to it, it could be someone from anywhere in the country.

“They could have been exposed to a low level of the nerve agent, which is believed to be the cause of the attack.”

He added he chairs Kent’s local health resilience partnership that works with the NHS and other partners to create multi-agency emergency plans.

Kent Police said its officers take part in regular tests to improve their reaction to emergencies.

Ch Supt Claire Nix said: “Kent is a safe place to live, work and visit and there is nothing at present to suggest there is a specific threat to the county.

“The emergency services and other partners regularly take part in training exercises to test our response to major incidents, including those which may involve chemicals, to ensure we are fully prepared.

“We also work closely with organisations including the South East Counter Terrorism Unit in order to help prevent and disrupt terrorist activities.

‘We all have a part to play in keeping our friends, families and fellow citizens safe, and that is by being vigilant to anything unusual and raising any concerns about suspicious activity or behaviour.”

Anyone with concerns is asked to contact Kent Police on 101 or call the Anti-Terrorist Hotline anonymously on 0800 798 321 unless it is an emergency, call 999.