Britain’s most senior counter-terrorism officer has told members of the public “to run as far as possible” if terrorists strike.
Scotland Yard Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley said it was one of the basic rules which could help save lives in the event an attack.
His advice to Londoners comes a day after Met commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe said it was a case of “when not if” terrorists struck again in the UK.
Mr Rowley said learning basic rules, such as looking for places to hide when they have finished running and calling police, will help reduce the death toll.
He was speaking after France and Germany had suffered several attacks , such as those in Nice, Paris and Munich.
Speaking to the Standard, Mr Rowley said: “It may seem blindingly obvious, but some people don’t run, they will duck down where they are, do all sorts of different things in the panic.
“So let’s be really clear – run as far away as possible and when you can’t run any further, hide, and then tell – call the police because we’ve got the people, the resources, the firearms to deal with it. It’s very straightforward.”
On Sunday (July 31) Sir Bernard praised the work of the police with MI5 and MI6 in thwarting attacks, such as those planned for Shepherd’s Bush police station .
And Mr Rowley said officers were carrying out “hundreds of investigations” into terror suspects.
Sir Bernard also said there were more armed officers on hand to tackle inevitable terrorist atrocities, and praised the tolerance of the public.
'Every Londoner can help fight terrorism'
Mr Rowley urged people to be prepared and alert: “Every Londoner can help the fight against terrorism, whether it’s being more prepared personally or at work or if you are suspicious about something or someone – if you see someone acting suspiciously near where you work then straight away contacting us, whether you are working in Canary Wharf or the local high street.
“We the police aren’t being defeatist, we are arresting more and more people, we are bringing more firearms officers on patrol, we’re putting more on foot patrol in crowded places, doing everything we can to flex our resources to protect the public and what we are saying is we aren’t being defeatist, it’s important the public aren’t defeatist as well.
“We need more help, more preparedness from the public. We are asking the public to roll the sleeves up and help us.”
