Novichok victim Charlie Rowley says he is terrified the nerve agent will eventually kill him.

The 45-year-old was exposed to the chemical weapon in Salisbury along with his partner Dawn Sturgess, who died after coming into contact with it in July.

It is believed to be the same novichok from a perfume bottle left behind by the attackers of the ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in March.

Mr Rowley, who has been in hospital with meningitis and suffered two strokes since the attack, told the Sunday Mirror: "I may be out of hospital but I don’t feel safe. I’m terrified about the future.

“Doctors simply don’t know what the long-term effects could be. The worst thing has been the fear over my sight. I’m struggling to see properly and to walk. I’m one of only a handful in the world to have survived novichok, so it’s untrod territory. I feel like a guinea pig.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen from one day to the next.”

He added: “I’m still worried the novichok could kill me if I get any sort of virus again – it’s on my mind all the time. I’m dreading getting a cold. When I got out of hospital the first time I was pleased. But it may have been too soon because a few weeks later I was back – blind and unable to use my left arm with meningitis.

“I remember losing all balance and suffering tunnel vision. Doctors told me I’d suffered numerous strokes and I needed heart treatment and a pacemaker. It’s all to do with the novichok.”

Britain has accused Russian secret service agents of carrying out the poisoning of the Skripals, who both survived the attack in March.