UK deploys special forces on streets after Paris attacks

UK's elite Special Reconnaissance Regiment (SRR) have been deployed to key public places

The UK has deployed special forces on its streets alongside undercover armed officers to back up uniformed police as a response to the series of terrorist attacks in Paris that killed more than 120 people.

UK's elite Special Reconnaissance Regiment (SRR) have been deployed to monitor stations, shopping centres and key public places amid fears the UK could be the next target for an Islamic State (IS) terror attack, according to British media reports.

"What we have done over the years since the Mumbai attack [2008] is to make sure that the police have the capability to deal with these incidents and there are tried and tested arrangements in place to give military support," UK's Home Secretary Theresa May told the BBC.

"As we find out more about what has happened in Paris, we will be looking to see if there are more lessons to be learned in the UK. There has been an increased police presence at some events, there will be greater searches of vehicles.

"People going through our ports will see a greater police and border-force presence and more searches of vehicles," she added.

One Briton - Nick Alexander from Essex - has been confirmed dead, and May said others had been injured.

Britain's terror threat level remains "severe," but Prime Minister David Cameron has said it will be reviewed.

"We stand absolutely shoulder to shoulder with the French in relation to this issue. I think we are both very clear that the terrorists will not win. We will defeat them," May said.

Flags are being flown at half-mast at Downing Street and the French Embassy in London and a number of UK landmarks, including Tower Bridge and Edinburgh Castle, were lit up in the colours of the French tricolour last night.