Music festivals including Glastonbury are on “high alert” for potential Islamic State suicide attacks, a senior anti-terror police officer has revealed.
Met deputy assistant commissioner Neil Basu said venues and “crowded places” were a major concern of policing efforts this summer.
He told the Sunday Times: “These people are perfectly happy to target civilians with the maximum terror impact. Crowded places were always a concern for us, but now they are right at the top of the agenda.”
His warning comes ahead of the European football championships in France and a number of music events across London and the UK in coming months.
Mr Basu, who has served with the Met for 24 years, said the Paris suicide bomb attacks last year, in which 130 people were killed, had “put everyone on much higher alert”.
Stadiums and big music events are particularly vulnerable, he said, adding: “This is where you put a small town into a small area for a couple of hours.
“That’s exactly the same with large concert venues and much harder [to safeguard] with a large open-air festival.”
However, the senior figure - a spokesman on anti-terrorist protection for the National Police Chiefs’ Council - confirmed there was no specific intelligence to suggest an imminent attack on a sporting arena or music festival.
Mr Basu also revealed the England squad, along with others, would be placed under armed guard by French police for the duration of Euro 2016.
