An inquest's been told the autopsy on the body of poisoned Russian former spy Alexander Litvinenko was one of the most dangerous ever performed.

Litvinenko died in a London hospital in 2006, three weeks after drinking tea infused with deadly polonium-210 at a luxury hotel.

Medical staff had to don two white safety suits, protective gloves and special hoods to conduct the examination a week later.

They found the 43-year-old had orally ingested a large quantity of polonium-210.

Dr Nathaniel Cary, the pathologist who led the examination, says he agrees the post-mortem was probably the most dangerous ever undertaken in the Western world.