UK police tweet three-point terror warning

A POLICE warning for Londoners to “RUN, HIDE, TELL’’ amid the horror of the latest terror attack highlighted the grim reality of home-soil threats.

It is understood the terror survival instructions, released on social media by the UK’s Metropolitan Police, were the first time the authority had issued such a warning amid a weapons or firearms attack.

The warning resembles drills rehearsed during bombing raids in WWII.

“Run to a place of safety,” it read.

“This is a better option than to surrender or negotiate.”

If there was nowhere to run, the warning urged people to hide.

“Turn your phone to silent and turn off vibrate.

“Barricade yourself in if you can.”

Those affected were then called on to notify police by calling 999 when it was safe to do so.

The warning, from the Metro Police UK Twitter account, was retweeted more than 58,000 times and liked more than 28,000 times within seven hours.

The guidelines follow the release of more detailed instructions by Britain’s National Counter Terrorism Security Office in 2015.

That warning was in response to a co-ordinated attack in Paris by ISISaligned terrorists.

In that survival manual, it urged people to also insist others leave with you if there is a safe route.

It also urges people to leave behind belongings and find cover from gunfire behind thick walls, but move away from doors.

People have also been warned not to “play dead’’ while businesses should employ a lock-down strategy.

It has been reported that “elite firearms officers’’ have been patrolling London in a new fleet of unmarked cars.

Terror expert Clive Williams said people in Australia were wary about mass gatherings and panic was inevitable if there was a terrorism attack.

Mr Williams said he had not seen instructions for the Australian public distributed through social media but there had been plenty of material published.