With the recent terror attacks in London and Paris and arrests made in London this week, the police are asking residents to stay alert and vigilant. You may see or hear something that could be a vital piece of information needed to stop an attack.

It could be out in the community, in your neighbourhood or even online. The police and the security and intelligence agencies depend on information from people like you, taken in confidence.

Police are advising the public to act to report any potential suspicious activity or online content they come across and are concerned about, and a new campaign has been launched called ACT: Action Counters Terrorism. The message is clear – ‘don’t worry, don’t delay, just act’ by:

• Reporting suspicious activity to the police by calling confidentially on 0800 789 321 or at gov.uk/ACT
• Reporting online terrorist and violent extremist material online
• Remaining alert at home, work and when out and about, so we can all play our part in defeating terrorism and keeping everyone safe.

‘It is communities that will defeat terrorism’

The public already contributes intelligence to around a third of the most serious terror investigations.

Speaking after counter-terrorism arrests made in Willesden this week, the deputy assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Neil Basu praised the public for their help.

He said: “No matter how hard we try, it is communities that will defeat terrorism and we rely on your vigilance.”

Mark Rowley, lead for National Counter Terrorism Policing, said: “Since 2014, the threat of terrorism has been severe, which means that an attack is highly likely. When attacks have occurred in the past, people have said that they suspected something was wrong but were worried about wasting police time by coming forward. That couldn’t be more untrue – with some of our highest priority investigations benefiting from information received from the public. We have always said that ‘communities defeat terrorism’. That is why the ACT campaign urges the public to do just that.”

More information

• Visit gov.uk/ACT
• You can also report suspicious activity by calling police confidentially on 0800 789 321.