Anti-terror teams ‘foil one 7 July-type attack every year’

Published on 22/03/2013 00:00

Counter-terror teams are foiling a plot as big as the 7 July attacks every year, a senior police officer has revealed.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Stuart Osborne also said the threats against the UK are constantly changing and Islamic extremists are now planning in smaller groups in a bid to avoid detection.

He said: “On average, we’ve probably had about one potential attack planned with an intent to create something similar to 7 July every year. The UK threat as we stand today remains at substantial, which means that a terrorist attack remains a strong possibility and could occur without warning.”

Mr Osborne, senior national co-ordinator for counter-terrorism, said extremists are returning from abroad wanting to mastermind plots in small groups. This follows the foiling of large scale plans such as the plot to blow up passenger jets with bombs disguised as soft drinks in 2006 and, more recently, a plan led by three men from Birmingham to set off rucksack bombs in crowded areas.

Mr Osborne said: “Some who have been trained actually are becoming quite self-motivated. They are beginning to plan in small groups which are hard to detect,” he said.

Al Qaida remains the greatest terror threat to Britain, he said, and the most recent trend is for would-be jihadists to travel to Syria for training and to get involved in fighting.

Mr Osborne’s comments came after new figures revealed the number of terror arrests had risen by 60 per cent in the year to September 2012.