Police Recruit Public In Fight Against Terror

The UK public and businesses are being recruited in an unprecedented drive to counter the threat posed by violent extremists.

Across the country, counter-terror officers will spend this week briefing more than 6,000 people at 80 venues including schools, universities, airports, shopping centres, cinemas and farms, in a bid to raise awareness of terrorism.

It comes as the Government prepares to grant police extra powers to force internet firms to hand over details that could help identify terrorists .

The UK's head of counter-terrorism has warned that police officers alone cannot combat the threat posed by groups like Islamic State and al Qaeda.

Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley said: "Police officers and our partners are continuing to work 24 hours a day, seven days a week to protect the UK from a terrorist attack.

"So far this year, we have disrupted several attack plots and made 271 arrests following counter-terrorism investigations, but the eyes and ears of law enforcement and other agencies alone cannot combat the threat."

British authorities have foiled up to five suspected terrorist plots in the past year, a five-fold increase on recent years.

The nationwide counter-terrorism awareness week is being staged just three months after the terror threat level in the UK was raised from substantial to severe, meaning a terrorist attack is "highly likely".

It also comes against a backdrop of increasing concerns over hundreds of aspiring British jihadis travelling to Iraq and Syria to learn terrorist "tradecraft".

Asst Comm Rowley warned the threat posed by violent extremists had "evolved" and was "no longer a problem solely stemming from countries like Iraq and Afghanistan, far away in the minds of the public".

"Now, they are home-grown, in our communities, radicalised by images and messages they read on social media and prepared to kill for their cause," he said.

"The tragic murder of Lee Rigby last year was a stark warning to us all about how real and local the threat is."

Asst Comm Rowley called on the public to be vigilant and report suspicious activity, and for businesses to check security measures are effective.

Security consultant Chris Phillips told Sky News: "What we must do is not always be fighting the last war.

"By the time a terrorist decides to attack someone, it's usually already far too late. We actually need communities to pick up people that are turning themselves into terrorists before it gets to the stage of an attack."

Mitchells and Butlers, the UK's largest pub and restaurant chain, is at the forefront of efforts to train staff in counter-terrorism awareness.

The chain's head of security, Andrew Nicholls, said: "Customers, we know, always want a safe environment and you help achieve that safe environment by creating the right awareness with your staff.

"Some of that is comparatively low-level issues like just being aware of unattended parcels. In other cases, the more senior staff, the team leaders and so on, would be trained in how to react if there was a more serious emergency and they had to, for example, evacuate the whole premises."

All week, at railway stations across England, Scotland and Wales, British Transport Police officers will be providing counter-terrorism information to passengers and delivering training sessions to rail staff.

Other events are planned, including work sessions with farmers to ensure fertilisers - which can be adapted into explosives - are stored securely.

Fears of a terrorist attack on Britain's streets have heightened in the wake of the rise of IS, the extremist group that has taken over large swathes of Iraq and Syria and attracted thousands of foreign jihadists to its cause, including more than 500 Britons.