Havering residents urged to be vigilant after London bombscare

Keep your ears open and your eyes peeled, Havering residents are being urged, after a bomb threat was made on London by Irish dissidents today.

The threat had no specific location or time, but The Mall, in front of Buckingham Palace, was cordoned off and a suspicious package destroyed near Trafalgar Square by bomb disposal experts.

The scare, in the form of a coded warning, comes a day before the Queen’s historic visit to Dublin tomorrow (Tuesday).

A spokesman for Havering Police said: “Although this happened in central London, local people should be on the look-out for anything suspicious too.”

The Met, City of London Police and British Transport Police (BTP) are working closely together to ensure the safety of London.

A wide range of overt and covert tactics will be used to protect the capital, a spokesman for Scotland Yard, said.

He added: “At this time Londoners should continue to go about their business as usual but we encourage the public to remain vigilant and report any information about unusual activity or behaviour which may be terrorist-related to the confidential Anti-Terrorist Hotline on 0800 789 321.”

In the event of an emergency always dial 999.

The threat level from Irish-related terrorism has not increased and remains at substantial meaning an attack is a strong possibility.

The threat level was raised in September 2010 from moderate to substantial.

The overall threat to the UK from international terrorism remains at severe.