SECURITY OPERATION TO BE BIGGEST IN BRITISH HISTORY

IT’S never happened before – well, not like this.

The countless wellwishers seeking to pay respects to their monarch, combined with the arrival of foreign dignitaries, including US president Joe Biden, heralds an unprecedented security risk for London.

Will London get too “full”? Pounding the path of Horse Guards Rd, dodging gangs of prams and families, while negotiating piles of horse manure, suggests saturation point is nigh.

But it’s more than crowd logistics. How do you prevent threats, from animal liberationists to something more sinister, from upsetting this royal Mecca in ordered chaos?

And will the necessary security arrangements hamper everyday efforts to farewell the Queen?

After all, activists and terrorists are opportunist disrupters. Given the world is fixated on London, what better time for belligerents to act?

In response to threats, real or imagined, stands the biggest security operation in British history.

Nick Aldworth is a former counter-terrorism national coordinator who oversaw armed police operations in during the 2012 Olympics.

He says security plans were drawn up years ago.

The UK’s terrorism threat level is currently “substantial”. Queues will be mapped so that people cannot be crushed and vehicles cannot be driven into them. Bombs were less likely, Mr Aldworth said, because they were made to order.

“We always think about vehicles and blunt or bladed weapons as being the most likely because they’re easy to get hold of and don’t require any skill or planning to use,” he told the PA news agency.

It is believed that specialist police teams and intelligence officers have cancelled holiday leave under an elaborate crossagency security operation.

Ken Marsh, chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation, said officers in the force “to a man and woman” supported 12-hour shifts and missed holidays.

There had been had no “gripes or groans” about the extra efforts expected, he said.

Up to 10,000 officers will be deployed in coming days. “Having the time of my life,” said a bobby stationed on The Mall on Monday, poking fun at the absence of unrest.

It’s thought up to 1500 soldiers will help control crowds, while thousands of stewards will line procession routes.

Police officers patrol in the streets of Edinburgh in preparation for the arrival of the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II; and (bottom) snipers stand on the roof of St Giles’ Cathedral in Edinburgh. Picture: (top) Oli Scarff/AFP; (bottom) Odd Andersen/AFP.