Scotland Yard heightens New Year's Eve security

Scotland Yard has stepped up security measures for New Year's Eve in London by locking down a majority of the roads and increasing the number of armed police officers on patrol in the wake of terror attacks in Berlin and Nice.
Concrete barriers have been put up around the city centre to monitor party-goers attending the annual Mayor of London's fireworks display on the banks of the River Thames tomorrow night.
The number of armed Metropolitan Police officers deployed will be higher than the 2,000 on duty for last year's festivities and armed British Transport Police officers will also patrol the transport network here.

Ken Marsh, chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation, said: "I can assure you that there is a big armed operation over London. There are more armed police this year than there have been ever before.
"There are far more bollards that have been put in place than ever before."
In total, 3,800 police officers will be on duty in central London, with thousands more in the rest of the capital.

The Met Police has confirmed that the security review took place in the wake of terrorist attacks in Berlin and Nice earlier this year.
Deputy Superintendent Phil Langworthy said: "We have been looking at what has happened around the world in terms of Berlin, Nice, etc and have adjusted our plans and continue to adjust our plans.

"We police around 3,500 large events every year including on New Year's Eve and we meticulously plan those events... And we look at our tactics and we look around the world and adjust our tactics if need be."
He underlined that there was no specific intelligence for an attack on London but encouraged people to report "anything suspicious".
Thousands are expected to ring in the New Year on the banks of the Thames and other tourist hot-spots such as Trafalgar Square.
Earlier this month, a truck was driven into a crowded Christmas market in Berlin, killing 12 people and injuring nearly 50 others in a terror strike which was claimed by the dreaded ISIS.

In a similar attack in July also claimed by the ISIS, 86 people were killed when a 19-tonne lorry was driven into crowds thronging Nice's seafront promenade during the annual Bastille Day celebrations.
Forces across Europe have been tightening their street securyt, with Madrid announcing today it would ban private vehicles of 3.5 tons or more from entering the city in the run-up to major festive parades marking the feast of Epiphany next week.