Anti-ram barriers to protect Notting Hill revellers
LARGE barriers have been set up along the route of this weekend’s Notting Hill carnival to prevent terrorists trying to ram revellers with cars or lorries.
Unprecedented security measures are in place after a spate of attacks using vehicles as weapons in Barcelona, Stockholm, Nice, Berlin and London.
Yesterday bright yellow steel barriers and concrete blocks could be seen on the roads surrounding the route in West London. Two million visitors are expected at the two-day event, which starts today.
There will be ‘major road closures’ in the area and postboxes have been sealed up and shopfronts protected with wooden boards. Scotland Yard said there was no specific intelligence that the carnival would be targeted by terrorists but security plans had been ‘thoroughly reviewed’ following the van attack in Barcelona earlier this month.
Officers will also form a ‘ring of care’ around the burned-out Grenfell Tower, close to the carnival route, amid fears there could be protests there. Local MP Emma Dent Coad said it was right the carnival went ahead despite passing the tower block where at least 80 people were killed in a fire in June. She told Radio 4’s Today show: ‘I see it perhaps as a wake. It’s a time in the middle of the grieving to relax and honour the dead and party briefly.’
Security was also boosted last night by the deployment of eight Special Reconnaissance Regiment (SRR) soldiers. The armed, plainclothed troops will mingle with revellers, keeping their weapons concealed, and respond quickly to any terrorist incidents.