Video: Armed officers are patrolling the Nottingham Winter Wonderland
Busy places in Nottinghamshire are being patrolled by armed police officers following the Berlin Christmas market terror attack.
Police started the routine patrols at 7am on Thursday and will run them regularly until lunchtime on January 3.
Two officers armed with machine guns were seen just after 10am on Thursday circling the Winter Wonderland on Old Market Square and the Council House.
Senior officers say it is intended to raise the profile of the city and county’s armed units after Monday’s carnage in the German capital in which a lorry was driven through a crowded Christmas market, killing 12 people and injuring 49.
The killer is still at large and is described as armed and dangerous. A European-wide manhunt is underway.
The attack has put security services across the continent on alert, although the UK’s official threat level from international terrorism has not changed from “severe”.
The patrols are being run by the East Midlands Operational Support Service which provides firearms teams for forces across the region.
Chief Superintendent Ian Howick, in charge of the service, said: “There is no specific threat to the East Midlands, but recent events elsewhere in the world have led to a change in what the public in Britain expect and want from their local police.
“The purpose of this change is to further minimise the risk to public and staff in and around crowded and busy public places from a terrorist attack, to maximise the safety of tasked and un-tasked police officers, staff and partner agency staff in such vicinities, and to provide the public with a greater sense of reassurance by increasing our visible presence.”
Tens of thousands of people are expected in Nottingham city centre in the three days leading up to Christmas on Sunday, including through the city’s Winter Wonderland attraction on Old Market Square.
He added patrols will also be carried out in “busy and crowded places” in Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Lincolnshire.
Chief Supt Howick added: “Far from alarming the public, the purpose of this change in approach is to achieve precisely the opposite – to provide greater reassurance,” he said.
Islamic State has claimed responsibility for Monday’s attack in Berlin.
