LONDON (AFP) ? Police and key organisations involved in the London 2012 Olympics have launched tests to prepare for any possible terror attack, the police officer in charge of Games security said.
"We recognise the terrorist threat could come from anywhere," London police's Olympic security coordinator Chris Allison told AFP, after a press conference on Tuesday to unveil a series of exercises which will run over the coming year.
The Olympics will see the biggest ever peacetime policing operation in Britain amid fears that terrorists could attack an event which will attract huge attention worldwide.
The threat level from international terrorism is currently ranked at severe, meaning an attack is highly likely. It is only one notch below the top level, critical, which means that an attack is imminent.
Islamist extremists are considered a major threat to London. Al-Qaeda-inspired bombings on the city's transport system in July 2005 killed 52 people.
Northern Irish dissident republicans -- who are seeking to destabilise the province's peace process -- have ramped up their activity in recent months and could also pose a threat to mainland Britain.
The security tests will include a live counter-terrorism exercise, to be held early next year, and meetings between the heads of police, emergency services, Olympic organisers and government departments to ensure they coordinate their response.
"We've looked at the various attack methodologies the terrorists have used in the past and we've used that to inform the plans," said Assistant Commissioner Allison.
Detailing the tests at the Scotland Yard headquarters of London's Metropolitan Police, Allison acknowledged that terrorism "potentially is the biggest" threat facing the Games.
Home Secretary Theresa May insisted that the government would "leave nothing to chance" when it came to security at the Games.
"The testing of our plans, structures and responses to ensure they can deal with any incident is vital," she said at Scotland Yard.
She denied that cuts to the police as part of reductions to public spending would affect the security operation.
"It is possible to make significant changes in budgets without affecting frontline officers," she said.
The government has earmarked ?600 million for Games security, which May pledged would be protected from spending cuts imposed on public services including the police.
The exercises, beginning in the coming weeks and running until shortly before the Games start on July 27, 2012, would also prepare police and key organisations for threats such as large protests and organised crime.
"All the sorts of things that could possibly happen in any event, we are going to test it," said Allison.
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