Police on high alert for terror attacks
SECURITY chiefs fear shopping centres are a target for terrorists at the height of Christmas shopping.
Undercover officers are being placed at central London Tube stations amid concerns killers will try to hurt the “maximum number of targets”.
The busiest stations at Covent Garden, Leicester Square, King’s Cross and Oxford Circus will be watched.
The undercover officers will pose as commuters and workers in the stations. An insider said: “This is very much a case of hoping for the best but expecting the worst.
“In recent years these idiots have shown they are going to the places where they will get the highest number of victims, and at the busiest shopping time of the year, where better to target?
“No risks are being taken. We would rather be overcautious than under cautious in situations like this.”
On July 7, 2005, 56 people died when bombers targeted buses and Tube stations in the capital.
Total sales over the eight-week festive run-in are forecast to reach about £2.5billion with 25 million people expected in the West End.
The insider said: “The majority of these shoppers will be tourists, and that means claiming victims from all over the world in their eyes.
“Attacks are being thwarted behind the scenes daily, it is very much being kept on top of but the truth is the threat is still very much there and still relatively high. We are on high alert.” Terror group Islamic State has threatened “festive slaughters” and “bloodshed for the holidays” in recent years. The Foreign Office has warned tourists heading to Christmas markets across Europe, including France, Germany, Belgium, Austria and Italy, to “remain vigilant” .
It said on its website: “There is a general threat from terrorism. There may be increased security in place over the Christmas and New Year period, including at Christmas markets and other major events that might attract large crowds. You should remain vigilant.”
Two years ago, jihadist Anis Amri killed 12 when he hijacked a lorry and ploughed into a Berlin festive market.