Two men arrested in west London under the Terrorism Act
16 November 2021, 18:47
Two men in west London have been arrested by the Counter-Terrorism Command.
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The Metropolitan Police confirmed two men aged 19 and 21, were detained this morning, and searches of an address in west London are ongoing.
The Met's Commander on counter terrorism, Richard Smith, said the arrests are "not linked" to the incident in Liverpool, adding there is not any "immediate threat" to the public.
Commander Smith continued : "Based on enquiries by detectives so far, there was not believed to be any immediate threat posed to the public, and those arrested remain in custody.
"We are all aware that the UK National Threat Level has been raised from substantial to severe following events in Merseyside and we need to work together to defeat terrorism.
"The public as always, are our eyes and ears and nothing should stop you from reporting suspicions to the police."
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"Every day, teams within the Met and across Counter Terrorism Policing nationally proactively investigate, identify and target those we suspect of being involved in terrorism.
"If you see or hear something in the course of your everyday life that doesn’t seem right, please trust your instincts and report it, as your information could be the key to stopping terrorist activity."
The statement comes after the force carried out a controlled explosion of a "suspicious" vehicle "as a precaution" in west Croydon earlier today.
A cordon was put in place near the station and nearby buildings and shops were evacuated, with travel services disrupted.
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Police later confirmed the incident was not being treated as terror-related and that a man had been reported for obstruction of the highway but he was not arrested.
On Monday the UK terror threat was raised to 'severe' following an explosion in Liverpool on Remembrance Sunday.
The change means an attack is "highly likely" across the country moving forward.
