I served Alexander Litvinenko deadly pot of tea

Norberto Andrade, 67, made a pot of green tea with honey and lemon and took it to the table where the former Russian spy was sitting with two former KGB agents, Andrei Lugovoi and Dmitry Kovtun.

The tea was later contaminated with radioactive polonium 210, killing Mr Litvinenko and sparking an international murder hunt. Mr Lugovoi and Mr Kovtun deny any involvement.

The Pine Bar in the Millennium Hotel, Mayfair, where the incident took place, was also found to be contaminated and shut for a year.

Mr Andrade, who is back at work in the reopened bar, said: "I got the highest dose of radiation because I cleaned the cups and put them in the dishwasher."

Recalling the events of 1 November last year, he added: "Mr Lugovoi was a regular customer in the hotel and there was nothing sinister about him. He was quite affable, and so was Mr Litvinenko.

"On that day there were three of them and they had green tea with honey and lemon. It is not such a common drink but the Russians love it.

"It was three weeks later that we found out something was wrong."

Mr Andrade said there had been nothing to make him suspect anything was wrong with the situation, but he did notice the tea was thicker and more yellow than normal when he later emptied the pot.

He said: "I wasn't worried until Mr Litvinenko was in all the papers. Everyone knew it was me that served him. We thought, 'Oh my goodness,' because we didn't know what radiation was all about." Mr Andrade and all the staff at the hotel were tested for polonium contamination by the Health Protection Agency.

"When it was first announced we all got worried and took a few weeks off. For a few weeks I felt very hot, but now I don't feel any symptoms.

"I have tests every few months and the level is going down. The guests even take the mickey out of me because they know who I am."

The Pine Bar, which reopened yesterday after a £230,000 refurbishment, is expected to profit from its notoriety. Mr Andrade has even put off his retirement to return to work.

Everything that was in the room at the time of the poisoning has been replaced, including the pine walls that gave the bar its name. The corner table where Mr Litvinenko sat to drink his tea has been replaced with a baby grand piano and the walls are now lined with walnut panels. Black chandeliers with pink light bulbs hang from the new ceiling and parts of the walls have been hung with black and grey floral wallpaper.

General manager Stefan Buchs said: "Every single glass and bottle had to be destroyed as well as the bar itself. The reopening marks the end of the polonium crisis and I am glad. When it happened we were thinking, 'Will we all die?'

"I was infected myself because I had coffee here every morning after it happened. But I was told it was just like having two MRI scans at once - that's the level we have in our bodies."

There are plans to extend the bar to cope with a surge in demand and the hotel will host a grand opening at the end of the month.

Mr Buchs said: "We are going to invite the Russian ambassador to the party - but I am not sure if he will come."