POLICE in Wiltshire are backing a nationwide campaign launched this week to tackle terrorism by encouraging people to report suspicious activity.

The threat level in the UK currently stands at severe, but has twice risen to critical and the country has seen five attacks, including Manchester and London, while 10 more have been thwarted.

Now a drive is under way to get people to contact police online or using a telephone hotline if they see what could be terrorist activity being planned. It is the second stage of an Action Counters Terrorism campaign and features a short film based on real foiled plots.

Supt Dave Minty, of Wiltshire Police, said: “This campaign is really important – communities defeat terrorism therefore it is vital that we make sure the public are aware of suspicious activity and how they can report it. We want people to continue to feel alert but not alarmed.

“Throughout the week we will be sharing messages across our social media encouraging members of the public to ensure they feel well informed about how to report suspicious online content or behaviour.”

The Metropolitan Police counter terrorism chief Neil Basu said: “Since the beginning of 2017 we have foiled 10 Islamist and four right wing terror plots, and there is no doubt in my mind that would have been impossible to do without relevant information from the public.”

Of nearly 31,000 public reports to counter terrorism police during 2017, more than 6600 resulted in useful intelligence. But research shows while people are motivated to report suspicious activity, many are unclear exactly what they should be looking for. ACT’s second phase aims to answer questions and reinforce the message that even small pieces of information can make the difference between a lethal attack or a successful disruption.

“This new film has been made to try and help people understand recent terrorist attack-planning methods, but also to demonstrate that each report from the public can be one vital piece of a much larger picture,” said Asst Comissioner Basu.