Policing

Police praised for stopping London Bridge attack in minutes

Terrorists would have killed more people during their attack in London on Saturday if police had not managed to find and stop them within minutes of the attack starting.

Sources described the response time as “fantastic” in its speed. The number of armed officers always on duty has been increased after previous terrorist atrocities.

The officers who shot dead the terrorists were in police armed response vehicles (ARVs), which regularly patrol big cities and other areas across Britain.

ARVs usually carry three officers and they are the first armed responders to incidents. The number of ARVs was increased in the UK after the November 2015 attacks on Paris showed the vulnerability of cities to marauding terrorist attacks.