Thirteen terror attacks foiled in under four years

Thirteen potential terrorist attacks in the UK have been thwarted in less than four years, Britain’s most senior counter-terrorism officer has revealed.

Assistant commissioner Mark Rowley also said security services are running more than 500 live investigations at any time.

The Metropolitan Police officer disclosed the figures as he launched a major appeal for the public to report any suspicions and act on their instincts, saying their help is critical in foiling attacks.

Mr Rowley said that since June 2013, police and intelligence agencies have disrupted 13 plots.

Information from the public has contributed to stopping some of those attacks, while figures show it has helped counter-terrorism police in a third of the most high-risk investigations.

Describing the contribution as "extraordinary", Mr Rowley told the Press Association: "Some of that information is a change in someone’s behaviour, some of that’s about suspicious activity.

"Sometimes that public information has actually started an investigation. Other times it’s part way through and it corroborates some things or adds to things we already know.

"The public are making a great contribution which is critical to us all working together to protect ourselves from terrorism."

Despite foiling a number of plots since the murder of soldier Lee Rigby in May 2013, Mr Rowley stressed the threat from terrorism remains severe.

Police have been making arrests at a rate of close to one a day on average since 2014.

The official threat level for terrorism has stood at severe – meaning an attack is "highly likely" – for more than two years.

Mr Rowley said "tempo" of activity continues, and identified a host of challenges including encrypted communication methods, propaganda and the range of possible attack methods.

"Now we worry about everything from fairly simple attacks with knives or using vehicles all the way through to the more complex firearms attacks," he said.

"All of that means that our job remains difficult. We’ve got over 500 investigations at any one stage."

Mr Rowley also warned that military success against Islamic State will not "eradicate the terrorist problem".

IS has been losing territory in Iraq and Syria thanks to a campaign by an international coalition led by the US, but Mr Rowley said it would be wrong to "assume that the terrorist threat is simply about ISIS (another name for IS) or simply about what’s happening in Syria".

The threat level means information from the public is seen as more important than ever.

In the year to March, the anti-terrorist hotline received more than twice the number of calls on the previous 12 months, with 22,000 people ringing up.

As part of the Action Counters Terrorism campaign, a podcast has been produced which reveals previously untold stories of how terrorist attacks in the UK were stopped, featuring accounts from detectives, bomb disposal and surveillance officers.

Mr Rowley said the aim was to give an insight into how terrorists might prepare and provide more confidence for the public to report any suspicions.

:: Assistant commissioner Mark Rowley will be speaking to Sky News about the threat of terrorism at 8.30am this morning

(c) Sky News 2017: Thirteen terror attacks foiled in under four years