Sir Robert Owen writes to justice secretary calling for inquiry in place of inquest after ruling some evidence cannot be heard

A coroner has written to the government to request a public inquiry in place of an inquest into the death of the poisoned spy Alexander Litvinenko, it has emerged.

Sir Robert Owen, presiding over the inquest into Litvinenko's death, has written to the justice secretary after previously ruling he could not hear evidence linked to the alleged involvement of the Russian government in public.

That ruling was published after the coroner accepted an application by the Foreign Office to keep certain information secret.

Following that ruling last month Litvinenko's widow, Marina, called for the coroner to order a public inquiry as a matter of urgency.

Litvinenko, 43, was poisoned with radioactive polonium-210 while drinking tea at the Millennium hotel in London's Grosvenor Square in 2006.

A statement from the coroner's office on Wednesday said Owen had written to Chris Grayling to request "a decision be made to order a public inquiry".

A government spokesman said: "We will carefully consider this request."

The family believe Litvinenko was working for MI6 at the time of his death and was killed on the orders of the Kremlin.

In his earlier ruling, Owen said that excluding key evidence on the issue of Russian involvement would cause him "grave concern". He added: "Were an inquiry to be held into the circumstances of Litvinenko's death, the relevant material could be taken into account."

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