London terror police train at Marine base

LONDON’S counter-terrorism police will practise storming buildings and fighting urban terrorists at a new Royal Marine training centre to prepare for any attack on the capital

A four-storey shipping container block built for Marine commandos to carry out urban combat and climbing drills will also be used by police units who may one day have to deal with a Paris-style terror attack.

The £200,000 Centre for Urban Tactics and Climbing (CUTAC), built at the Royal Marines Reserve unit in Wandsworth, will be used by all three of the capital’s emergency services to train for dealing with emergencies in multi-storey buildings.

Police and security chiefs have said London must be prepared to deal with a string of simultaneous terror attacks similar to the Paris atrocities that killed 130 people in December 2015.

The danger from Islamic jihadists means the country’s threat level has stood at severe, meaning an attack is highly likely, since 2014.

Lieutenant Colonel Ed Moorhouse, commander of the Royal Marines Reserve City of London unit, said: “It will prove to be an essential tool, not just for Royal Marines, but for all our military colleagues in and around London.

“Moreover, and just as importantly, the blue light service – giving us all a chance to train together, cross pollinate and swap skills together as well as develop new tactics by sharing this facility.”

Scotland Yard has held a series of major terror drills across the capital in recent years as officers face the prospect of having to deal with attacks on difficult locations including the Tube system, on the River Thames and in tall buildings.

Adrian Ajao killed five people last month in a car attack against pedestrians on Westminster Bridge before he was shot dead trying to storm into Parliament.

Weeks earlier, the Met’s most senior counter-terrorism officer, Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley, revealed that security services have thwarted 13 potential terrorist attacks in the UK in less than four years.