London's security forces told to prepare for up to 10 simultaneous terror attacks

Security forces in the UK have been told to prepare for up to 10 simultaneous terror attacks in London, with army regiments also being kept on standby outside the capital to help in the event of multiple attacks.

Alongside the proposals, the National Crime Agency has been ordered to prioritise a crackdown on firearms, amid fears of a Paris-style terror attack in London. A minister told the Sunday Times that the attacks in Paris had shown the UK authorities that they needed to prepare for multiple simultaneous attacks: "We used to plan for three simultaneous attacks but Paris has shown that you need to be ready for more than that. We are ready if someone tries with seven, eight, nine, ten."

A specialised bomb disposal unit is also being formed by the British Army at Didcot to deal with any potential 'dirty bombs' – conventional bombs that spread radioactive material – as well as bombs designed to distribute chemical or biological agents.

Another clampdown is occurring in the UK's prisons, where authorities are worried extremist inmates might attack non-Muslim prison guards and film it on illicit mobile phones before spreading the footage online.

The preparations come as one of the key suspects from the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was arrested in Belgium on Friday after being injured in a shootout with police.