Anti-terror police are relying on public help to stop an attack in London, the Met's chief said yesterday.
Met Commissioner Sir John Stevens yesterday spoke of steps being taken to prevent an attack in London, in the wake of widespread alarm after last week's bombings in Madrid.
Sir John said London's Tube and rail network remained an obvious target.
"But we are also talking about London in general. This is a general message for Londoners to remain alert," he said.
While Britain had highly trained anti-terror police, Sir John said they were relying on information and assistance from the general public.
"We cannot defeat terrorism alone," he said.
Sir John agreed with Government suggestions that a terror attack was inevitable in London.
Speaking at a press conference with mayor Ken Livingstone, Sir John said police were working three times harder than ever' to prevent an attack.
About 500 people had been arrested and 90 of them were due to come before court in the next year.
"Take my word for it, we have foiled a major event," he said.
"A major attack in London will not be easy to handle, none of them are, but we do have experience."
Sir John compared the work of anti-terror police to a game of chess, where authorities analyse the latest moves of their opponents to take action before an attack.
Mr Livingstone joined with Sir John in encouraging people to carry on their normal lives.
The mayor said London was the safest world city' and terrorists had shown they would attack anywhere in the world, from Madrid to Bali.
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