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Detectives will interview him as a potential witness in the investigation into what is being treated as a suspicious death. A Daily Mirror reporter - Graham Brough - has also said he is being tested after conducting an interview with Mr Scaramella in Italy.

Earlier today, Tony Blair declared that no "diplomatic or political barrier" would be allowed to stand in the way of the investigation, which is being handled by Britain’s top counter terrorism unit.

Mr Blair said Mr Litvinenko’s death was being treated as a "very, very serious matter", adding that he would speak to Mr Putin when the time was "appropriate".

The HPA disclosed that as of midnight on Monday, the NHS Direct helpline had received 1,121 calls from people worried about the risk of contamination. Of these, 68 were investigated further and eight were referred "as a precaution" to a specialist outpatient assessment clinic.

The clinic has been set up specifically for people with symptoms that potentially could have been caused by radiation exposure. Those referred there, will be asked to complete a questionnaire, before they are examined by doctors.

Further tests - including a urine test – will be then carried out if the medical staff decide there is a possible risk of radiation contamination. The agency said the patients would be referred for "appropriate treatment" for any medical conditions which were identified as a result of the tests, whose results take about a week to come back.

The agency said it was aware of the two new addresses where police confirmed the discovery of traces of polonium 210 last night.

"These addresses are already being monitored and so far have shown no risk to public health," the agency said.

Mr Litvinenko’s friends and family are among those to have been contacted by the agency. It is unclear whether any are among the eight who are now being tested at the specialist clinic.

A post mortem examination will be carried out on Mr Litvinenko on Friday. Dr Andrew Reid, London’s inner north district coroner, has decided that an autopsy and "special examinations" of Mr Litvineko’s body are necessary to fully investigate the cause of his death.

The procedure will be subject to appropriate health and safety precautions to safeguard the doctors and technicians involved.

Detectives are still trying to piece together Mr Litvinenko’s movements on the day he fell ill and they hope Mr Scaramella will be able to fill in some of the blanks. He met Mr Litvinenko at Itsu sushi in Piccadilly on November 1 to discuss information about the murder of dissident Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya.

Mr Litvinenko also met two Russian men that day at the Millennium Hotel in Mayfair. He later fell ill and, on Thursday last week, died in London’s University College Hospital of radiation poisoning. The radioactive element polonium 210 was later discovered in his system.

Traces have since been found by police at several addresses across London, including at Mr Berezovsky’s offices and the headquarters of the international security company Erinys.

The Kremlin has denied any involvement in Mr Litvinenko’s poisoning. The Government’s emergency Cobra committee met again today to discuss the case.

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