London’s New Year’s Eve security to include armed cops, dogs and vehicle barriers to thwart terror attacks
SECURITY for New Year celebrations has been reviewed in London and across the country after a spate of terror attacks in 2017.
Undercover cops, armed police patrols, dog units and vehicle barriers are expected in the capital and throughout the Midlands and the North this Sunday night.
The crackdown comes after ISIS threats made on a propaganda poster to unleash "New Year's Eve 'hell'" in the city.
London was hit by four major terrorist incidents in 2017, including March's attack on the Palace of Westminster which saw five people including PC Keith Palmer killed, and June's attack at London Bridge, which left eight people including three terrorists dead.
In May, twenty-three people were killed and hundreds injured when lone wolf Salman Ramadan Abedi detonated a bomb in the foyer of Manchester Arena after an Ariana Grande concert.
Police will now be stepping up security on major cities including London, where around 100,000 ticket-holders will be watching the annual firework spectacle on the banks of the Thames.
Hundreds of thousands of additional party-goers are expected to hit London this New Year's Eve.
Scotland Yard advised people without a ticket for the sold-out fireworks to watch "from the comfort and warmth of your home".
Alongside increased police patrols, mobile undercover units will patrol cities ready to track suspicious targets, while an SAS squadron is on standby in London to back up police if necessary.
In the past, targets London, Birmingham and Manchester have all had undercover units posing as homeless people with sniffer dogs as "pets" to remain undetected.
Superintendent Nick Aldworth said: "The policing plan has been developed and reviewed following the tragic incidents that have occurred through the year.
"We will have the right response of officers at the right locations; this will be a mix of overt and covert officers deployed, as well as dogs, and the use of CCTV and automatic number plate recognition.
"People can expect to see armed officers in the area, and we will be using vehicle barriers across the event area.
"Security is paramount for us, and so we ask for patience and co-operation when getting through the check and search points."
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Meanwhile in Birmingham, armed police have held a night exercise with actors as "victims" to prepare for a possible attack and are said to be stepping up their patrols with an "unprecedented amount of activity", .
A spokeswoman for London mayor Sadiq Khan said: "The safety of Londoners is the mayor's number one priority.
"He and his team are in close contact with the Metropolitan Police, TfL and other key agencies, and we have appropriate plans for security in place.”
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