POLICE today revealed that a number of people from Wiltshire who wanted to travel to Syria or Iraq to become jihadis have been persuaded not to join extremist groups.

Wiltshire's assistant chief constable Kier Pritchard was speaking as his force launched a week-long social media campaign to combat terrorism.

He said that Wiltshire police and other agencies had worked together with the community to identify young people who might be vulnerable to being radicalised.

He said: "We have learnt about people with certain sympathies who have wanted to travel but as far as I am aware they have all been persuaded not to go thanks to the fantastic support of all the agencies in the Prevent teams."

He also said that thanks to information from schools, colleges and religious groups the police and other had worked with other people of all ages to persuade them away from extreme views that might have led them and others into danger.

He said: "This is not about criminalising someone. It is about working with them to persuade them to take a different path."

Later this week the police will be putting out a film on social media showing the impact that people choosing to join ISIS can have on their families left behind.

Mr Pritchard said that nationally the threat to the UK from international terrorism remains severe meaning an attack is highly likely but the risk in Wiltshire was still low.

But he asked for people from all walks of life and different religions to come together to support the police in their fight against terrorism. He said: "We do not want the public to be alarmed but we do want them to be alert. Police services depend on information they receive from the public who act as our eyes and ears in our bid to keep people safe. It someone concerns you, report it."

In London armed counter terrorism police took to the streets on Monday and officers with guns from Kent and Sussex have been patrolling shopping malls but he said that while Wiltshire had discussed taking this measure it was not brought into force.

He said: "We have an armed response unit but we are not going to be routinely patrolling shopping centres and iconic places."

Mr Pritchard stressed that the best way to keep the county safe was for people to work together. He warned people against blaming different religions for terrorism and said that any incidents of hate crime would be dealt with by the police.

People are urged to report anything suspicious to the police on 999 or the anti-terrorism hotline 0800 789 321.