FORMER civil servants at the Government's Porton Down biological weapons centre may face criminal charges in connection with experiments that killed a County Durham man.

Police confirmed yesterday that the results of a three-year inquiry into the experiments at the Wiltshire research centre had been passed on to the Crown Prosecution Service.

Reports that a number of people involved in experiments at Porton Down face criminal charges, which may involve the death of Consett RAF man Ronald Maddison, were neither confirmed nor denied.

Veteran MP Tam Dalyell said he had spoken to police officers and that he believed prosecutions were an option, although he was against that happening.

Mr Maddison died aged 20 in 1953 after Sarin, a nerve agent, was dripped on to a patch on his arm. His case and that of 300 other men, who claim they suffered disabilities including skin and eye disorders, have been investigated by a team of 30 police officers in Operation Antler.

Mr Maddison's sister, Lillias Craik, said she had heard no news from her solicitor about the case, but hoped there would finally be some progress.

She said: "As far as I'm concerned we want justice to happen. If we can finally get close to the truth it would not be before time."

Mr Dalyell, who has shown an interest in the case, said he would not support any prosecutions.

But he said: "As a former serviceman myself, it's about time we were given the truth."

A spokesman for Wiltshire Police confirmed that files had been sent to the CPS and that inquiries were continuing. A spokesman for the CPS also confirmed that files had been received, but declined to reveal what the recommendations were