Police are being given more powerful guns and extra training to prepare for a possible Mumbai-style terror attack in Britain.
Security chiefs are staging a series of counter-terrorism exercises with police sharpshooters training alongside units of the elite SAS under the plans.
The development follows the interception last month by British intelligence officials of a credible Al Qaeda-linked plot.
Armed response: Police are being given more powerful guns and extra training to prepare for a possible Mumbai-style terror attack in Britain (file picture)
It would have reportedly been similar to the deadly commando-style raids in Mumbai, India, two years ago, which left 166 people dead and several hundred injured.
Cities in France and Germany were also targeted as part of the plot.
Former security minister Lord West told the BBC that police officers needed to be properly trained to deal with similar terror attacks.
He said: 'These people like the Mumbai terrorists, are a bit like soldiers.
'They do fire and support, move forward - all they want to do is kill as many people as possible, with slightly heavier weapons than our police have.
Mass murderer: Mohammad Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving gunman of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, was sentenced to death earlier this year
'And therefore you have to give heavy weapons to the police and train them how to do it.
'There is no way, except at immense cost, you could have SAS-level trained troops in every part of the country to be able to respond in the time-scale you'd need.
'The police are there and have to do that first response.'
A Whitehall official told the BBC that the Metropolitan Police had not been asked to to do this before.
He added that the role of the police would be to contain such a situation - and the role of the SAS, if they were called upon, would be to resolve it.
The UK's terror threat rating remains at 'severe', the second highest rating, where it has been since increasing from 'substantial' in January.
Prime Minister David Cameron's long-awaited National Security Strategy last week accepted that the danger of Al Qaeda carrying out a murderous attack on Britain using chemical, germ or nuclear weapons has ‘not diminished’.
This has paved the way for ministers to axe outdated Cold War equipment including warships, fighter jets and tanks as part of cuts to the Ministry of Defence’s £37billion budget.
The U.S. State Department advised American citizens living or travelling in Europe earlier this month to take extra precautions following reports that terrorists may be plotting attacks in airports, travel hubs and tourist attractions.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1323799/Police-train-possible-Mumbai-style-terror-attack-streets-Britain.html#ixzz13UXHnjlW
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