Emergency services swamp Canary Wharf for huge counter terrorism exercise

The largest ever counter terrorism training exercise, involving more than 1,000 people, has been held in central London.

Organised by Counter Terrorism Policing London as part of the regular programme of protective security events, the exercise was held in Canary Wharf on Sunday, June 7.

Emergency service responders from all blue light services, including police officers, firefighters, paramedics and counter-terrorism investigation teams all took part, as well as Canary Wharf Group (CWG) security staff.

To enable the ‘live play’ exercise to take place, a section of the Canary Wharf estate was closed to the public until midday.

Dozens of actors were involved in creating a scenario that tested the skills of emergency responders in dealing with a marauding terrorist attack.

The exercise was not being carried out in response to any specific threat or intelligence.

Chief Superintendent Kris Wright, of Counter Terrorism Policing London who directed the

exercise, said:

“It has been an extremely valuable opportunity to carry out a training exercise at a venue such as the Canary Wharf estate. The central London venue enabled us to test the skills of hundreds of police officers, firefighters and paramedics.

“The learning that we, our emergency services colleagues, local partners and security staff at Canary Wharf have gained from this exercise has been invaluable.

“I would like to thank the team at CWG who have given us this fantastic opportunity to test officers and security staff at a busy central London venue.

“It’s a testament to their commitment to public safety, and this experience will undoubtedly strengthen the cooperation between all those who operate in or around the venue – both in our day-to-day activities, but also should a major incident response ever be required.

“I want to emphasise that this was also not carried out in response to any specific threat or intelligence. The terrorism threat level across the UK was recently raised to ‘severe’ so we always need people to be vigilant, but I hope this reassures Londoners that should the worst happen, that we are ready and prepared to respond in the best possible way.”

Security Minister, Dan Jarvis, said:

“Our emergency services work around the clock to keep us safe. Exercises like this ensure that should they be called upon, they are able to respond quickly, effectively and with confidence. I’d like to thank all those organisations who took part in this exercise and those who facilitated it.

“We have backed our world-leading intelligence agencies and counter-terrorism police with record levels of funding in order to protect us from the threats we face.

“The UK terrorism threat level is currently ‘severe’ so if you see something that doesn’t feel right, report it to the police– you will never be wasting their time.”