Huge security upgrade for US embassy

The US embassy in London is set to be turned into a fortress amid heightened fears of a terrorist attack, it emerged today.

The massive security upgrade at the Grosvenor Square site will include the construction of a 7ft-high steel perimeter fence with an entry checkpoint.

However, a call to ban vehicles from surroundingstreets has met with opposition from some residents and businesses.

The permanent measures are intended to replace temporary safeguards put up following the September 11 attacks three years ago. The move reflects a fear in President-Bush's administration-that its embassies will remain key targets for years to come.

Current security fixtures, including concrete blocks in front of the building, have been dubbed "the Gaza Strip" by residents of the square. While most of the proposed work is likely to be nodded through by Westminster council, planners are concerned at the impact road closures will have on traffic in Mayfair. Under the US plans, Upper Brook Street, Upper Grosvenor Street and one side of the square would be sealed off with steel bollards, retractable to allow access to the 750 embassy staff and residents.

Guard booths and video surveillance cameras would protect the entrances. Concrete barriers would remain in front of the building but would be redesigned and filled with flowers to soften their appearance. A statue of President Eisenhower would be moved as part of the changes.

An initial planning application has been rejected as "invalid" because, according to the council, the embassy has "failed to explain the impact of the proposals, especially in highway terms". Cars are already prevented from driving up to the embassy but the latest plans would extend the traffic-free zone. John Lippett, a consultant who works from an office off the square, warned the plans could hit property prices.

He said: "Mayfair is not a suitable location for all this. It is a historic and architecturally distinguished part of London."

One resident, Countess Anca Vidaeff-Tyoran, has called the stepped-up security a "living nightmare" and threatened legal action against the US government-Local MP Mark Field said: "Clearly life has been made extremely difficult for residents over the past two-and-a-half years. They need to have a sense of life getting back to normal."

But Glenys Roberts, a councillor and resident, said: "People living near the embassy welcome the road closures because they reduce the fear of an explosion."

Grosvenor Square has been home to the US embassy since 1785.